title: Signal transduction in the rodent pineal organ. From the membrane to the nucleus.
abstract: The rodent pineal organ transduces a photoneural input into a hormonal output. This photoneuroendocrine transduction leads to highly elevated levels of the hormone melatonin at night-time which serves as a message for darkness. The melatonin rhythm depends on transcriptional, translational and posttranslational regulation of the arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase, the key enzyme of melatonin biosynthesis. These regulatory mechanisms are fundamentally linked to two second messenger systems, namely the cAMP- and the Ca(2+)-signal transduction pathways. Our data gained by molecular biology, immunohistochemistry and single-cell imaging demonstrate a time- and substance-specific activation of these signaling pathways and provide a framework for the understanding of the complex signal transduction cascades in the rodent pineal gland which in concert not only regulate the basic profile but also fine-tune the circadian rhythm in melatonin synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomie, Anatomisches Institut II, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maronde
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeffer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: von Gall
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dehghani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schomerus
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wicht
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kroeber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olcese
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Stehle
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Korf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D051786:Cyclic AMP Response Element Modulator; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019205:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015290:Second Messenger Systems; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D051786:Cyclic AMP Response Element Modulator; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases; D019205:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs; D008550:Melatonin; D002118:Calcium