Dietary regulation of sleep in a blood-feeding insect - proposal summary neural regulation of sleep, appetite and energy homeostasis is critical to an animal's survival and under stringent…

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Texas A&M University $411,704 on February 13, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to investigate how sleep is regulated by blood feeding in the disease vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

The research will systematically define sleep in mosquitoes, identify dietary amino acids that promote sleep following blood meals, and screen neuropeptides to test for neuromodulators required for sleep after feeding. The work leverages established sleep analysis methods from fruit flies to establish Aedes aegypti as a model for studying dietary regulation of sleep in a blood-feeding insect. The methodology developed is intended to be readily applicable to other mosquito species.

Performance occurs at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, with a period of performance through January 31, 2028. The award is structured as a Project Grant, providing funding to establish foundations for understanding conserved regulators of sleep-feeding interactions and offering the first investigation of how macronutrients regulate sleep in a blood-feeding insect.

Dietary regulation of sleep in a blood-feeding insect - proposal summary neural regulation of sleep, appetite and energy homeostasis is critical to an animal's survival and under stringent evolutionary pressure. Despite the prevalence of disorders associated with metabolism and sleep, the neural and genetic processes that regulate interactions between these two systems is unclear. This proposal will investigate how sleep is regulated by blood feeding in the disease vector mosquito aedes aegypti. We will systematically define sleep in mosquitos, and determine the dietary amino acids that promote sleep. We will then screen neuropeptides for regulators of sleep to test for neuromodulators required for sleep following a blood meal. These experiments leverage decades of sleep analysis in fruit flies, to define sleep in a blood feeding insect. The findings have potential to identify conserved regulators of sleep-feeding interactions, as well as providing the first investigation of how macronutrients regulate sleep in a blood-feeding insect. Further, the methodology used to define sleep can be readily applied to other mosquito species. Therefore, the completion of this work will establish AE. Aegypti as a model for studying dietary regulation of sleep.