Protein Acylation Modifications in Sleep Disorders: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential

Protein acylation represents a class of metabolism-dependent post-translational modifications that are increasingly recognized as emerging regulatory components implicated in the molecular mechanisms associated with sleep disorders. Accumulating experimental evidence indicates that diverse acylation modifications-including acetylation, lactylation, crotonylation, succinylation, and lipid-type modifications such as palmitoylation and myristoylation-may influence circadian clock proteins, neurotrophic factors, synaptic scaffolding molecules, and mitochondrial energy metabolism. Importantly, most lysine acylation events occur at low global stoichiometry under physiological conditions, whereas pathological metabolic states may induce relative enrichment at specific functional sites rather than widespread high-occupancy modification. These acylation events have been linked to oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and circadian disruption in preclinical studies, while robust causal and quantitative evidence in humans remains limited. This review synthesizes current mechanistic insights, emphasizes emerging conceptual advances, and outlines key challenges and future directions for translational research in sleep medicine.