Mammalian pineal melatonin: A clock for all seasons

Bartness, Timothy J.; Goldman, Bruce D.

doi:10.1007/bf01953051

Cited by 295 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…This DNA fragment (760 bp) was inserted into the pGL3-Basic vector that has been cut with the same restriction enzymes. pGL3-TKNATE box 4 was constructed using a sequence containing four 17-bp tandem repeats, each containing the E box with 7 bp of 5Ј-and 4 bp of 3Ј-flanking sequences (5Ј-ACTTCATCACGTGCTCC-3Ј). Supercoil plasmid DNAs was prepared on Qiagen columns.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For co-transfection experiments, COS-7 cells (grown to ϳ50% confluency in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium) were transfected with 200 ng of each expression plasmid, 100 ng of pGL3-TKNATE box 4 , and 20 ng of PRL-TK (internal control) and pTarget (Promega) or pcDNA3.1 to keep the amount of DNA per transfection constant. Cells were harvested 48 h post-transfection and assayed for luciferase activity as described above.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is synthesized in the pineal gland of all vertebrates; circulating melatonin exhibits a daily rhythm, with markedly elevated levels occurring at night (1)(2)(3), hence the moniker "hormone of the night." Circulating melatonin regulates seasonal changes in various aspects of physiology in photoperiodic species (4,5) and has been implicated in the mechanisms that regulate circadian rhythms in some species of birds, reptiles, and mammals (2,3,6,7). A second site of melatonin synthesis is the retina, where it probably acts locally as a paracrine signal to regulate various aspects of retinal physiology (8,9).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Characterization of the Chicken SerotoninN-Acetyltransferase Gene

Chong¹,

Bernard²,

Klein

2000

Journal of Biological Chemistry

133

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The abundance of serotonin N-acetyltransferase (arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, AANAT) mRNA in the chicken pineal gland exhibits a circadian rhythm, which is translated into a circadian rhythm in melatonin production. Here we have started to elucidate the molecular basis of the circadian rhythm in chicken AANAT (cAANAT). The 5-flanking region of the cAANAT gene was isolated and found to contain an E box DNA element that confers strong luciferase reporter activity. In transfection experiments using chicken pineal cells, an E box mutation dramatically decreased reporter activity. Northern blot analysis indicated that several putative clock genes (bmal1, Clock, and MOP4) are co-expressed in the chicken pineal gland. bmal1 mRNA is expressed in a rhythmic manner in the chicken pineal gland, with peak levels at early subjective night, coincident with the increase in cAANAT expression. Co-transfection experiments in COS cells demonstrated that chicken BMAL1/ CLOCK and human BMAL1/MOP4 heterodimers bound the AANAT E box element and enhanced transcription. These observations suggest that binding of clock gene heterodimers to the cAANAT E box is a critical element in the expression of the cAANAT gene in vitro.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of the Chicken SerotoninN-Acetyltransferase Gene

Chong¹,

Bernard²,

Klein

2000

Journal of Biological Chemistry

133

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“…A primary role for circulating melatonin in regulating various seasonal changes in physiology, such as reproduction, metabolism and hair growth, in many photoperiodic species is well-established (Tamarkin et al, 1985; Bartness & Goldman, 1989). Pineal melatonin is also involved in regulating circadian rhythms in some species of birds and reptiles (Underwood, 1989) and, low doses of exogenous melatonin entrain free-running rhythms in mammals (Redman et al, 1983;Folkard et al, 1990;Thorpe & Coen, 1994), while larger doses of have a sleep-promoting and sedative effect in both experimental animals and man (Holmes & Sugden, 1982;Waldhauser et al, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural requirements at the melatonin receptor

Sugden

Chong

Lewis

1995

British J Pharmacology

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1 High affinity, specific binding sites for the pineal hormone, melatonin (5-methoxy Nacetyltryptamine) can be detected in chick brain membranes by use of the radiolabelled agonist,2 The affinity of a number of analogues of melatonin at the 2-[1251I]-aMT binding site was determined and compared with an analysis of their electronic structure and significant quantitative relationships obtained. 3 The best correlations indicated that binding affinity was correlated with AE, the difference between the frontier orbital energies, and QNH, the electron density in the highest occupied molecular orbital of the side-chain nitrogen atom. 4 These findings suggest that ligand binding may involve hydrogen bonding between the 5-methoxy and amide moieties of melatonin and complementary amino acid residues, and charge transfer interactions between the indole ring of melatonin and an aromatic amino acid in the receptor binding site. 5 A molecular model of a putative binding site is proposed based on the predicted amino acid sequence of the cloned Xenopus laevis melanophore melatonin receptor and the quantitative structureaffinity relationships observed in the present study.

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“…La production de cette hormone au cours de la nuit chez l'animal dure plus longtemps en hiver qu'en été [9]. Cette particularité saisonnière et l'effet hypnotique de la mélatonine ont donc fait émettre l'hypothèse qu'un allongement de la production de cette hormone en hiver engendrerait un état dépressif.…”

Section: Un Premier Suspect : La Mélatonineunclassified