Conserved sleep disturbances in FOXP1 syndrome originate from developmental dysregulation of peptidergic signaling
Mireia Coll-Tané, Ilse Eidhof, Jie Han, Nicholas Raun, Lara V. van Renssen, Simon E. Fisher, Matthew S. Kayser, Tjitske Kleefstra, Sigrid Pillen, Caitlin M. Hudac, Jordi Mayneris-Perxachs, Marieke Klein, Saskia Koene, Anna Castells-Nobau, Annette Schenck
Mireia Coll-Tané, Ilse Eidhof, Jie Han, Nicholas Raun, Lara V. van Renssen, Simon E. Fisher, Matthew S. Kayser, Tjitske Kleefstra, Sigrid Pillen, Caitlin M. Hudac, Jordi Mayneris-Perxachs, Marieke Klein, Saskia Koene, Anna Castells-Nobau, Annette Schenck
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Research Article Clinical Research Neuroscience

Conserved sleep disturbances in FOXP1 syndrome originate from developmental dysregulation of peptidergic signaling

Abstract

Sleep disturbances are among the most prevalent clinical features of FOXP1 syndrome, yet their nature and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that individuals with FOXP1 syndrome suffer from insomnia with sleep maintenance problems and early waking. Consistently, common variants in FOXP genes were associated with insomnia symptoms and short sleep. These sleep disturbances were recapitulated in Drosophila FoxP mutants, which exhibit severely fragmented and reduced sleep. FoxP loss also led to circadian arrhythmicity and impaired the plasticity of neuropeptide pigment dispersing factor–secreting (PDF-secreting) neurons in a non-cell-autonomous manner. FoxP was required during development for adult sleep integrity, particularly in peptidergic neurons. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a dysregulation of genes involved in peptidergic signaling, including hugin. FoxP was expressed in hugin+ neurons (afferent to PDF-secreting neurons) during development, and its knockdown in these cells was sufficient to induce sleep fragmentation. Our findings establish an evolutionarily conserved role for FOXP proteins in the peptidergic regulation of sleep.

Authors

Mireia Coll-Tané, Ilse Eidhof, Jie Han, Nicholas Raun, Lara V. van Renssen, Simon E. Fisher, Matthew S. Kayser, Tjitske Kleefstra, Sigrid Pillen, Caitlin M. Hudac, Jordi Mayneris-Perxachs, Marieke Klein, Saskia Koene, Anna Castells-Nobau, Annette Schenck

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Figure 1

Individuals with FOXP1 syndrome suffer from night and early wakings that affect their family’s well-being.

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Individuals with FOXP1 syndrome suffer from night and early wakings that...
(A) Nature of the sleep problems reported by the parents of individuals with FOXP1 syndrome who believe their child currently has disturbed sleep (7 out of 9 individuals). (B) Sleep disturbances reported to occur at least 3 times per week in the whole cohort (n = 9), independently of whether the parents consider that they are currently experiencing sleep problems. Sleep complaints occurring 3 or more times per week are defined as a sleep disorder according to the ICSD-3 criteria (23). Only features occurring in at least 40% of our cohort are reported. (C and D) Frequency of night wakings (C) and estimated time taken to resettle after waking during the night (D) in our FOXP1 syndrome cohort (n = 9). (E) Outcome of the quantitative graphical sleep diaries. Quantitative values outside the range of neurotypical individuals (age considered; see Supplemental Methods) are highlighted in orange. Numerical values are provided in Table 2. (F) Effect of child’s sleep on family members (n = 9).