Topic: narcolepsy

Nature staff discuss how a newly approved orexin-targeting narcolepsy drug could enable therapies for other neurological conditions, and examine human brain organoids that have remained viable for more than five years. The episode connects sleep medicine, therapeutic neuroscience, and long-term models of human brain development.

Hypocretin(orexin)-producing neurons in the lateral hypothalamic area are important for sleep regulation and their damage manifests clinically as narcolepsy in humans. In animal experiments, extensive lesions of these neurons confirmed and clarified their physiological importance. Smaller, partial lesions of hypocretinergic neurons may uncover more subtle mechanisms of function of hypocretin system and may help understand more delicate processes in early stages of pathogenesis of narcolepsy. In a lesioned group of rats (N=9) bilateral injections of hypocretin-2-saporin (Hcrt2-SAP) conjugate in