Melatonin Synthesis Enzymes in Macaca mulatta: Focus on Arylalkylamine N-Acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.87)

Oct 5, 2002The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism

Melatonin-Making Enzymes in Rhesus Monkeys with Focus on the Key Enzyme AANAT

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Abstract

AANAT activity and protein levels increase more than 4-fold at night in both the pineal gland and retina of rhesus macaques.

AANAT mRNA is abundant in the pineal gland and retina but is not found in other tissues.
The distribution of AANAT mRNA is uniform in the pineal gland and primarily located in the photoreceptor outer segments of the retina.
Day and night levels of AANAT mRNA in both the pineal gland and retina do not show significant differences.
The activity of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase, crucial for melatonin synthesis, is high in the pineal gland but nearly undetectable in the retina.
High levels of AANAT mRNA at all times suggest that posttranscriptional control is key in regulating melatonin synthesis in primates.

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Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT; serotonin N-acetyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.87) plays a unique transduction role in vertebrate physiology as the key interface between melatonin production and regulatory mechanisms. Circulating melatonin is elevated at night in all vertebrates, because AANAT activity increases in the pineal gland in response to signals from the circadian clock. Circadian regulation of melatonin synthesis is implicated in a variety of human problems, including jet lag, shift work, insomnia, and abnormal activity rhythms in blind persons. In this report AANAT was studied in the rhesus macaque to better understand human melatonin regulation. AANAT mRNA is abundant in the pineal gland and retina, but not elsewhere; AANAT mRNA is uniformly distributed in the pineal gland, but is limited primarily to the photoreceptor outer segments in the retina. Day and night levels of pineal and retinal AANAT mRNA are similar. In contrast, AANAT activity and protein increase more than 4-fold at night in both tissues. The activity of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase, the last enzyme in melatonin synthesis, is tonically high in the pineal gland, but is nearly undetectable in the retina; hydroxyindole O-methyltransferase mRNA levels exhibited a similar pattern. This supports the view that the source of circulating melatonin in primates is the pineal gland. The discovery in this study that rhesus pineal AANAT mRNA is high at all times is of special importance because it shows that posttranscriptional control of this enzyme plays a dominant role in regulating melatonin synthesis.

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Melatonin Synthesis Enzymes in Macaca mulatta: Focus on Arylalkylamine N-Acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.87)

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