Journal of neurochemistryMar 19, 2005

Daily rhythms in the pineal gland control key gene activity for melatonin production in mice

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 25, 2026

Abstract

Expression of the Aa-Nat gene in mouse pineal glands is influenced by the time of day and adrenergic receptor stimulation.

Phase-dependent responses of Aa-Nat were observed in both melatonin-proficient and melatonin-deficient mouse pineal glands.
Inhibition of phosphodiesterases did not affect Aa-Nat mRNA levels, indicating they may not suppress its induction.
Newly synthesized proteins may not be necessary for gating Aa-Nat responses, as shown by the ineffectiveness of puromycin.
Circadian dependence of Period1-luminescence expression suggests functional circadian clocks in cultured mouse pineal glands.
Aa-Nat mRNA levels do not exhibit significant circadian rhythms without adrenergic stimulation, implying adrenergic mechanisms drive its expression.

Simplified

In mammals it has been thought that the circadian clock localizes only in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. Recent studies have revealed that certain brain regions and peripheral tissues may also have intrinsic circadian clocks. However, the roles played by 'peripheral circadian clocks' have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated their function using mouse pineal glands, and found that expression of the arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (Aa-Nat, EC 2.3.1.87, the rate-limiting enzyme of melatonin synthesis) gene after adrenergic receptor stimulation depended on the time of day even in vitro (gating). Phase-dependent Aa-Nat responses were observed in both melatonin-proficient and melatonin-deficient mouse pineal glands. Phosphodiesterases are unlikely to suppress Aa-Nat induction because a phosphodiesterase inhibitor itself had no effect on the mRNA levels. Puromycin was ineffective in inducing Aa-Nat mRNA levels in either the presence or absence of isoproterenol, suggesting that newly synthesized proteins may not be necessary to gate the Aa-Nat responses. We also discovered circadian dependence of the expression of Period1-luminescence in Period1-luciferase transgenic mouse pineal glands: circadian clocks may be functional in culture. Aa-Nat mRNA levels showed no significant circadian rhythms in the absence of isoproterenol, thus suggesting that Aa-Nat mRNA levels are induced by adrenergic mechanisms, not by a pineal circadian clock. Our results suggest that the pineal circadian clock may determine timing when Aa-Nat gene expression can respond to inputs from the master circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, e.g. adrenergic stimulation.

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Daily rhythms in the pineal gland control key gene activity for melatonin production in mice

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