Mapping Regional Cerebral Protein Synthesis During Sleep

The integrity of the cerebral tissue is restored by the synthesis of new macromolecules, in particular, new proteins. Proteins play a fundamental role in cellular structure and function. Using similar techniques, Bobillier and colleagues reported that in cats receiving p-chlorophenylalanine and 5-hydroxytryptophan, there was a significant positive correlation between the duration of rapid eye movement sleep as well as slow wave sleep (SWS) and the incorporation of amino acids within the proteins of the telencephalon. In a confounding study, Vy. Brodskii and colleagues measured the ability of cortical biopsies of cats to incorporate [³H]leucine into proteins. Autoradiographic studies using [³H]leucine analyzing cerebral protein synthesis (CPS_leu)during sleep have also offered controversial results. H. Nakanishi and colleagues reported that no modification of CPS_leu was noted between sleeping and awake monkeys. However, the authors combined both light and deep SWS into the sleeping category, which may have confounded their results.