Melatonin is a hormonal signal for the photoperiod and is intricately involved in many aspects of circadian and seasonal physiology. This idoleamine is synthesized in the pineal gland and retinas of many vertebrate species. In mammals, melatonin of pineal origin is synthesized in pinealocytes that receive photic information indirectly via the retina, brain, and sympathetic nervous system. In many non-mammalian vertebrates, the hormone-producing cells of the pineal organ are the directly light-sensitive, pineal photoreceptors. This publication contains state-of-the-art approaches to the study of pinealocytes, including confocal microscopy with three-dimensional reconstruction, calcium imaging of identified cells, patch-clamp analysis of novel ion channels, and new techniques for the monitoring of circadian melatonin production. Moreover, recent findings on the molecular and pharmacological characteristics of melatonin receptors, mechanisms of melatonin action and human melatonin in health and disease are reviewed. This collection of papers offers a valuable resource in the study of circadian and seasonal physiology. It provides stimulating reading for chronobiologists, cell biologists, physiologists, pharmacologists, neuroendocrinologists, and other medical and biological researchers.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 25.2 cm
Breite: 17.7 cm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-3-8055-6638-4 (9783805566384)
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Part I Pineal and ocular photoreceptors: three-dimensional reconstruction of serotonin-immunoreactive photoreceptors in the pineal organ of the river lamprey, lampetra japonica; circadian oscillators in vertebrate retinal photoreceptor cells; regulation of the intracellular concentration of free calcium ions in pinealocytes of the rainbow trout and the rat; elevated nighttime activity of chick pineal/LOT channels requires protein synthesis; cellular and molecular regulation of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in chicken retinal photoreceptors; photic and circadian regulations of melatonin rhythms in fishes; in vivo microdialysis studies of pineal and ocular melatonin rhythms in birds. Part II Synthesis, secretion and action of melatonin: melatonin excretion rhythms in the cultured pineal organs of the lamprey, lampetra japonica; light, neurotransmitters and the suprachiasmatic nucleus control of pineal melatonin production in the rat; pineal effects on adrenal medulla, area postrema and brain water content in relation to intracranial surgery; the photoperiodic response in Syrian hamsters depends upon a melatonin-driven rhythm of sensitivity to melatonin; melatonin receptors in the spinal cord; melatonin inhibits GnRH-induced CaZ+ mobilization and influx through voltage-regulated channels; differential behaviour of cell membranes towards iron-induced oxidative damage and the effects of melatonin; differential pattern of the circadian rhythm of serum melatonin in young and elderly healthy subjects; plasma melatonin rhythm in humans and lights.
