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Bacterial Peptidoglycan Found in Mouse Brains, Linked to Sleep–Wake Patterns

The peer-reviewed findings bolster a WSU model that views sleep as a host–microbe process.

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The recent findings regarding peptidoglycan, or PG, lend weight to that hypothesis and point to a possible regulatory role for bacterial cell wall products in sleep. Credit: Neuroscience News
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Overview

  • Washington State University researchers detected bacterial peptidoglycan across mouse brain regions, with levels aligning to the rest–wake cycle and reaching a daily low at ZT12.
  • Regional differences were pronounced, with the highest peptidoglycan levels in the brainstem and lower levels in the olfactory bulb, hypothalamus, and cortex.
  • After 3 hours of sleep disruption, peptidoglycan increased in the somatosensory cortex but decreased in the brainstem and hypothalamus.
  • After 6 hours of sleep loss, peptidoglycan levels rose in the brainstem and olfactory bulb compared with controls, and RNA-seq showed sleep-loss changes in PG-linked genes such as Pglyrp1 and Nfil3.
  • The research was published in Frontiers in Neuroscience alongside a Sleep Medicine Reviews paper outlining the 'holobiont condition' hypothesis, and the authors note mechanisms and human relevance remain to be established.