All posts by SleepRhythm

Modulation of miR-210 alters phasing of circadian locomotor activity and impairs projections of PDF clock neurons in Drosophila melanogaster.

Cusumano P, Biscontin A, Sandrelli F, Mazzotta GM, Tregnago C, De Pittà C, Costa R. Plos Genetics Single microRNAs are usually associated with hundreds of putative target genes that can influence multiple phenotypic traits in Drosophila, ranging from development to behaviour. We investigated the function of Drosophila miR-210 in circadian behaviour by misexpressing it within […]

Cryptochrome Interacts With Actin and Enhances Eye-Mediated Light Sensitivity of the Circadian Clock in Drosophila melanogaster.

Schlichting M, Rieger D, Cusumano P, Grebler R, Costa R, Mazzotta GM, Helfrich-Förster C. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience Cryptochromes (CRYs) are a class of flavoproteins that sense blue light. In animals, CRYs are expressed in the eyes and in the clock neurons that control sleep/wake cycles and are implied in the generation and/or entrainment of […]

Changes in Accident & Emergency Visits and Return Visits in Relation to the Enforcement of Daylight Saving Time and Photoperiod

Ferrazzi E., Romualdi C., Ocello M., Frighetto G., Turco M.,Vigolo S., Fabris F., Angeli P.,Vettore G., Costa R., Montagnese S. Journal of Biological Rhythms Daylight saving time (DST) is a source of circadian disruption impinging on millions of people every year. Our aim was to assess modifications, if any, in the number, type, and outcome […]

A Semi-natural Approach for Studying Seasonal Diapause in Drosophila melanogaster Reveals Robust Photoperiodicity

Nagy D.,  Andreatta G., Bastianello S., Martín Anduaga A., Mazzotta G., Kyriacou CP., Costa R. Journal of Biological Rhythms The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster survives thermally stressful conditions in a state of reproductive dormancy (diapause), manifested by reduced metabolic activity and arrested ovarian development in females. Unlike insects that rely primarily on photoperiodic stimuli to initiate […]

Assessment and Management of Sleep Disturbance in Cirrhosis

Formentin C,  Garrido M,  Montagnese S. Current Hepatology Reports This review presents an in-depth overview of the sleep–wake phenotype of patients with cirrhosis, together with available pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment strategies. A set of simple, practical recommendations is also provided. The understanding of the pathophysiology of sleep disorders in this patient population has improved over the […]

Aminergic Signaling Controls Ovarian Dormancy in Drosophila

Andreatta G, Kyriacou CP, Flatt T, Costa R Scientific Reports 2018 In response to adverse environmental conditions many organisms from nematodes to mammals deploy a dormancy strategy, causing states of developmental or reproductive arrest that enhance somatic maintenance and survival ability at the expense of growth or reproduction. Dormancy regulation has been studied in C. […]

Diapause in Drosophila melanogaster – photoperiodicity, cold tolerance and metabolites

Anduaga AM, Nagy D, Costa R, Kyriacou CP. Journal of Insect Physiology  2018 Unlike many insects where photoperiod per se induces diapause, reproductive arrest in Drosophila melanogaster adult females is observed at colder temperatures and can be enhanced by shorter photoperiods. Traditional experimental protocols raise flies at 25°C from the larval stage and then the adults are placed at […]

Neuropsychiatric performance and treatment of hepatitis C with direct-acting antivirals: a prospective study

Volpato S, Montagnese S, Zanetto A, Turco M, De Rui M, Ferrarese A, Amodio P, Germani G, Senzolo M, Gambato M, Russo FP, Burra P. BMJ open gastroenterology 2017 BACKGROUND:Since direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been approved for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a small series of patients with new-onset neuropsychiatric alterations have been referred to us. We therefore set out to study neuropsychiatricfunction in […]

Functional characterization of the circadian clock in the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba

Biscontin A, Wallach T, Sales G, Grudziecki A, Janke L, Sartori E, Bertolucci C, Mazzotta G, De Pittà C, Meyer B, Kramer A, Costa R. Scientific Reports 2017 Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a key species in Southern Ocean ecosystem where it plays a central role in the Antarctic food web. Available information supports the existence of an endogenous timing […]

Inverse European Latitudinal Cline at the timeless Locus of Drosophila melanogaster Reveals Selection on a Clock Gene: Population Genetics of ls-tim.

Zonato V, Vanin S, Costa R, Tauber E, Kyriacou CP. J Biol Rhythms. 2017 The spread of adaptive genetic variants in populations is a cornerstone of evolutionary theory but with relatively few biologically well-understood examples. Previous work on the ls-tim variant of timeless, which encodes the light-sensitive circadian regulator in Drosophila melanogaster, suggests that it may […]