Publication Date:
2006-12-23
Description:
Many species express endogenous cycles in physiology and behavior that allow anticipation of the seasons. The anatomical and cellular bases of these circannual rhythms have not been defined. Here, we provide strong evidence using an in vivo Soay sheep model that the circannual regulation of prolactin secretion, and its associated biology, derive from a pituitary-based timing mechanism. Circannual rhythm generation is seen as the product of the interaction between melatonin-regulated timer cells and adjacent prolactin-secreting cells, which together function as an intrapituitary "pacemaker-slave" timer system. These new insights open the way for a molecular analysis of long-term timing mechanisms.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Lincoln, Gerald A -- Clarke, Iain J -- Hut, Roelof A -- Hazlerigg, David G -- G0600678/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2006 Dec 22;314(5807):1941-4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh, Queen's Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland. g.lincoln@hrsu.mrc.ac.uk〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17185605" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Biological Clocks/*physiology
;
Circadian Rhythm
;
Cues
;
Denervation
;
Lactotrophs/physiology
;
Male
;
Melatonin/blood/*physiology
;
Models, Biological
;
Motor Activity
;
Photoperiod
;
Pineal Gland/innervation/physiology
;
Pituitary Gland, Anterior/*physiology/secretion
;
Prolactin/*secretion
;
Seasons
;
Sheep/blood/*physiology
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
