کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
2811027 1158509 2007 8 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
The mammalian pineal gland: known facts, unknown facets
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری بیوشیمی، ژنتیک و زیست شناسی مولکولی علوم غدد
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
The mammalian pineal gland: known facts, unknown facets
چکیده انگلیسی

In the mammalian pineal gland, information on environmental lighting conditions that is neuronally encoded by the retina is converted into nocturnally elevated synthesis of the hormone melatonin. Evolutionary pressure has changed the morphology of vertebrate pinealocytes, eliminating direct photoreception and the endogenous clock function. Despite these changes, nocturnally elevated melatonin synthesis has remained a reliable indicator of time throughout evolution. In the photo-insensitive mammalian pineal gland this message of darkness depends on the master circadian pacemaker in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei. The dramatic change in vertebrate pinealocytes has received little attention; here, we therefore link the known evolutionary morphodynamics and well-investigated biochemical details responsible for rhythmic synthesis of melatonin with recently characterized patterns of gene expression in the pineal gland. We also address the enigmatic function of clockwork molecules in mammalian pinealocytes.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: - Volume 18, Issue 4, May–June 2007, Pages 142–149
نویسندگان
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