Pax4 is a homeobox gene that is known to be involved in embryonic development of the endocrine pancreas. In this tissue, Pax4 counters the effects of the related protein, Pax6. Pax6 is essential for development of the pineal gland. In this study we report that Pax4 is strongly expressed in the pineal gland and retina of the rat. Pineal Pax4 transcripts are low in the fetus and increase postnatally; Pax6 exhibits an inverse pattern of expression, being more strongly expressed in the fetus. In the adult the abundance of Pax4 mRNA exhibits a diurnal rhythm in the pineal gland with maximal levels occurring late during the light period. Sympathetic denervation of the pineal gland by superior cervical ganglionectomy prevents the nocturnal decrease in pineal Pax4 mRNA. At night the pineal gland is adrenergically stimulated by release of norepinephrine from the sympathetic innervation; here, we found that treatment with adrenergic agonists suppresses pineal Pax4 expression in vivo and in vitro. This suppression appears to be mediated by cAMP, a second messenger of norepinephrine in the pineal gland, based on the observation that treatment with a cAMP mimic reduces pineal Pax4 mRNA levels. These findings suggest that the nocturnal decrease in pineal Pax4 mRNA is controlled by the sympathetic neural pathway that controls pineal function acting via an adrenergic-cAMP mechanism. The daily changes in Pax4 expression may influence gene expression in the pineal gland.

The cone-rod homeobox (Crx) gene encodes a transcription factor in the retina and pineal gland. Crx deficiency influences the pineal transcriptome, including a reduced expression of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (Aanat), a key enzyme in nocturnal pineal melatonin production. However, previous functional studies on pineal Crx have been performed in melatonin-deficient mice. In this study, we have investigated the role of Crx in the melatonin-proficient rat pineal gland. The current study shows that pineal Crx transcript levels exhibit a circadian rhythm with a peak in the middle of the night, which is transferred into daily changes in CRX protein. The study further shows that the sympathetic innervation of the pineal gland controls the Crx rhythm. By use of adenovirus-mediated short hairpin RNA gene knockdown targeting Crx mRNA in primary rat pinealocyte cell culture, we here show that intact levels of Crx mRNA are required to obtain high levels of Aanat expression, whereas overexpression of Crx induces Aanat transcription in vitro. This regulatory function of Crx is further supported by circadian analysis of Aanat in the pineal gland of the Crx-knockout mouse. Our data indicate that the rhythmic nature of pineal CRX protein may directly modulate the daily profile of Aanat expression by inducing nighttime expression of this enzyme, thus facilitating nocturnal melatonin synthesis in addition to its role in ensuring a correct tissue distribution of Aanat expression.

The Xsight spine tracking system is practically important because it is accurate and eliminates the use of implanted fiducials. Experience has shown this technology to be robust under a wide range of clinical circumstances.

The effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) on the L-type Ca2+ channel current (L-channel current) was studied in smooth muscle cells prepared from the rat tail artery. PACAP caused an increase in the amplitude of the L-channel current. The maximal increase (56%) occurred at a PACAP concentration of 1 x 10(-8) M; higher concentrations resulted in a smaller increase. Investigation into the intracellular mechanisms of PACAP action revealed that the increase in L-channel currents was blocked by calphostin C and bisindolylmaleimide IV [protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors] and mimicked by 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an activator of PKC. PACAP was also found to cause translocation of PKC, suggesting that the increase in the current by PACAP was due to PKC. In contrast, activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) by 8-bromo-cAMP caused an inhibition of the L-channel current. A high concentration of PACAP (1 x 10(-6) M) had no effect on the L-channel current. The null effect of PACAP on the L-channel current could be converted to an increase by Rp-cAMPs, a cAMP antagonist, and a decrease by calphostin C. PACAP also increased cAMP accumulation. These observations indicate the effect of PACAP on the L-channel current represents the integration of two signaling mechanisms that involve the activation of PKA and PKC.

In this study, the effect of cGMP on the dihydropyridine-sensitive (L-type) Ca2+ current was investigated using the whole cell version of the patch-clamp technique in rat pinealocytes. Dibutyryl-cGMP (1 x 10(-4) M) induced a pronounced inhibition of the L-type Ca2+ channel current. The dibutyryl-cGMP effect was concentration dependent. Elevation of cGMP by nitroprusside had a similar inhibitory action on the L-type Ca2+ channel current. Norepinephrine, which increased cGMP in rat pinealocytes, also inhibited this current. The action of cGMP was independent of cAMP elevation since the cAMP antagonist, Rp-cAMPs, had no effect on the inhibitory action of dibutyryl-cGMP. The involvement of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase was suggested by the blocking action of two protein kinase inhibitors, (1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H7) and N-(2-guanidinoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide (HA1004), on the dibutyryl-cGMP effect on the L-type Ca2+ channel current. Taken together, these results suggest that (1) cGMP modulates L-type Ca2+ channel currents in rat pinealocytes, causing inhibition of this current; (2) the action of cGMP appears to be independent of cAMP elevation; and (3) phosphorylation by cGMP-dependent protein kinase may be involved.

The main function of the rat pineal gland is to transform the circadian rhythm generated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus into a rhythmic signal of circulating melatonin characterized by a large nocturnal increase that closely reflects the duration of night period. This is achieved through the tight coupling between environmental lighting and the expression of arylalkylamine-Nacetyltransferase, the rhythm-controlling enzyme in melatonin synthesis. The initiation of Aanat transcription at night is controlled largely by the norepinephrine-stimulated phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein by protein kinase A. However, to accurately reflect the duration of darkness, additional signaling mechanisms also participate to fine-tune the temporal profile of adrenergic-induced Aanat transcription. Here, we reviewed some of these signaling mechanisms, with emphasis on the more recent findings. These signaling mechanisms can be divided into two groups: those involving modification of constitutively expressed proteins and those requiring synthesis of new proteins. This review highlights the pineal gland as an excellent model system for studying neurotransmitter-regulated rhythmic gene expression. Keywords: arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase, aurora kinase, cyclic AMP response element-binding protein, histone, pineal, salt-inducible kinase. nucleus which sends a stimulatory signal to the pineal gland at night by way of a neural circuit that includes both central and peripheral neuronal structures (Moore and Klein 1974). The circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus itself is synchronized to environmental lighting via neural signal transmitted through the retinal hypothalamic tract (Klein et al. 1991;Ganguly et al. 2002). Such arrangement ensures that the stimulation of the pineal gland is tightly coupled to the environmental light/dark cycle. Within the pinealocyte, the biosynthesis of melatonin involves N-acetylation of serotonin by arylalkylamine-Nacetyltransferase (AA-NAT), followed by methylation of the 5-hydroxyl group by hydoxyindole-O-methyltransferase, with the former functioning as a rate-limiting gating mechanism in this biosynthetic pathway (Klein 1985). Hence the day/night difference in the production of melatonin is in fact a reflection of the circadian variation in the activity of AA-NAT in the pineal gland . Considering the importance of melatonin in different aspects of neurobiology (Arendt 1995), the control mechanism that regulates AA-NAT activity has attracted the attention of researchers in circadian biology.In the rat pineal gland, the increase in the level of AA-NAT activity at night is mainly because of increased synthesis of AA-NAT protein. The signal transduction pathway that regulates this process has been expertly reviewed Ganguly et al. 2002;Maronde and Stehle 2007). In brief, the nightly release of NE from the sympathetic nerve stimulates both a-and b-adrenergic receptors, resulting in a 100-fold increase in the level of cAMP (Klein 1985). This in turn causes an increase...

Microarray analysis has provided a new understanding of pineal function by identifying genes that are highly expressed in this tissue relative to other tissues and also by identifying over 600 genes that are expressed on a 24-hour schedule. This effort has highlighted surprising similarity to the retina and has provided reason to explore new avenues of study including intracellular signaling, signal transduction, transcriptional cascades, thyroid/retinoic acid hormone signaling, metal biology, RNA splicing, and the role the pineal gland plays in the immune/inflammation response. The new foundation that microarray analysis has provided will broadly support future research on pineal function.

The pineal gland is a photoneuroendocrine transducer that influences circadian and circannual dynamics of many physiological functions via the daily rhythm in melatonin production and release. Melatonin synthesis is stimulated at night by a photoneural system through which pineal adenylate cyclase is adrenergically activated, resulting in an elevation of cAMP. cAMP enhances melatonin synthesis through actions on several elements of the biosynthetic pathway. cAMP degradation also appears to increase at night due to an increase in phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity, which peaks in the middle of the night. Here, it was found that this nocturnal increase in PDE activity results from an increase in the abundance of PDE4B2 mRNA (approximately 5-fold; doubling time, approximately 2 h). The resulting level is notably higher (>6-fold) than in all other tissues examined, none of which exhibit a robust daily rhythm. The increase in PDE4B2 mRNA is followed by increases in PDE4B2 protein and PDE4 enzyme activity. Results from in vivo and in vitro studies indicate that these changes are due to activation of adrenergic receptors and a cAMP-dependent protein kinase A mechanism. Inhibition of PDE4 activity during the late phase of adrenergic stimulation enhances cAMP and melatonin levels. The evidence that PDE4B2 plays a negative feedback role in adrenergic/cAMP signaling in the pineal gland provides the first proof that cAMP control of PDE4B2 is a physiologically relevant control mechanism in cAMP signaling.