RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Pan-Neuronal Knockdown of Calcineurin Reduces Sleep in the Fruit Fly, Drosophila melanogaster JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 13137 OP 13146 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5860-10.2011 VO 31 IS 37 A1 Jun Tomita A1 Madoka Mitsuyoshi A1 Taro Ueno A1 Yoshinori Aso A1 Hiromu Tanimoto A1 Yasuhiro Nakai A1 Toshiro Aigaki A1 Shoen Kume A1 Kazuhiko Kume YR 2011 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/37/13137.abstract AB Sleep is a unique physiological state, which is behaviorally defined, and is broadly conserved across species from mammals to invertebrates such as insects. Because of the experimental accessibility provided by various novel animal models including the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, there have been significant advances in the understanding of sleep. Although the physiological functions of sleep have not been fully elucidated, accumulating evidence indicates that sleep is necessary to maintain the plasticity of neuronal circuits and, hence, is essential in learning and memory. Calcineurin (Cn) is a heterodimeric phosphatase composed of CnA and CnB subunits and known to function in memory consolidation in the mammalian brain, but its neurological functions in the fruit fly are largely unknown. Here, we show that Cn is an important regulator of sleep in Drosophila. A pan-neuronal RNA interference-mediated knockdown of Cn expression resulted in sleep loss, whereas misexpression of the constitutively active form of a CnA protein led to increased sleep. Furthermore, CnA knockdown also impaired the retention of aversive olfactory memory. These results indicate a role for Cn and calcium-dependent signal transduction in sleep and memory regulation and may bring insight into the relationship between them.