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A circadian oscillator in cultured cells of chicken pineal gland

Nature volume 282, pages 94–96 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

The activity of serotonin N-acetyltransferase, the key enzyme of melatonin synthesis, shows a marked circadian rhythm in the pineal glands of various animal species1–10. The regulation mechanism of the N-acetyltransferse rhythm in birds is different from that in mammals. N-Acetyltransferase activity in rat pineal gland is controlled by the central nervous system through the sympathetic nerves from the superior cervical ganglion1–6, while in chicken the endogenous oscillator for N-acetyltransferase rhythm is presumably located in the pineal gland. Recently it has been shown that N-acetyltransferase activity oscillates in a circadian manner in the organ culture of chicken pineal glands11–13. When chicken pineal glands were organ-cultured under continuous illumination, the nocturnal increase of enzyme activity was suppressed. These observations suggested that chicken pineal gland contains a circadian oscillator, a photoreceptor and melatonin-synthesising machinery. A central question arises whether the circadian oscillation of N-acetyltransferase activity and its response to environmental lighting are generated within the cell or are emergent properties of interaction between different types of pineal cells. I report here that in the dispersed cell culture of chicken pineal gland, N-acetyltransferase activity exhibits a circadian rhythm and responds to enviromental lighting in the same manner as in the organ culture.

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  1. Department of Medical Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neurosciences, 2–6 Musashidai, Fuchu-city, Tokyo, 183, Japan

    Takeo Deguchi

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  1. Takeo Deguchi
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Deguchi, T. A circadian oscillator in cultured cells of chicken pineal gland. Nature 282, 94–96 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282094a0

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