In mammals, hypocretin/orexin (HCRT) neuropeptides are important sleep-wake regulators and HCRT deficiency causes narcolepsy. In addition to fragmented wakefulness, narcoleptic mammals also display sleep fragmentation, a less understood phenotype recapitulated in the zebrafish HCRT receptor mutant (hcrtr-/-). We therefore used zebrafish to study the potential mediators of HCRT-mediated sleep co...

Melatonin plays a significant role in the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Using the GT1–7 cell line, an in vitro model of GnRH-secreting neurons of the hypothalamus, we examined the potential signal transduction pathways activated by melatonin directly at the level of the GT1–7 neuron. We found that melatonin inhibits forskolin-stimulated adenosine 3 -, 5 -cyclic monophospha...

Melatonin plays a significant role in the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Using the GT1-7 cell line, an in vitro model of GnRH-secreting neurons of the hypothalamus, we examined the potential signal transduction pathways activated by melatonin directly at the level of the GT1-7 neuron. We found that melatonin inhibits forskolin-stimulated adenosine 3'-, 5'-cyclic monophospha...

BACKGROUND Melatonin is a neuroendocrine hormone synthesized primarily by the pineal gland that is indicated to effectively prevent myocardial reperfusion injury. It is unclear whether melatonin protects cardiac function from reperfusion injury by modulating intracellular calcium homeostasis. OBJECTIVE Demonstrate that melatonin protect against myocardial reperfusion injury through modulating...

OBJECTIVE Melatonin, an indolamine produced and secreted predominately by the pineal gland, exhibits a variety of physiological functions, possesses antioxidant and antitumor properties. But, the mechanisms for the anti-cancer effects are unknown. The present study explored the effects of melatonin on the migration of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and its mechanism. METHODS MTT assay w...

Increasing evidence shows that melatonin protected against age-related mitochondrial oxidative damage. However, the protective effects of melatonin against ovarian aging has not been explored. Young Kunming females (aged 2-3 months) were fed with melatonin added to drinking water for 6 or 12 months (mo). We found that long-term (12 mo) melatonin treatment significantly reduced ovarian aging, as...

Melatonin, a marker for the circadian rhythm with serum levels peaking between 2AM and 5AM, is hypothesized to possess anti-cancer properties, making it a mechanistic candidate for the probable carcinogenic effect of circadian rhythm disruption. In order to weigh epidemiologic evidence on the association of melatonin with cancer, we must first understand the laboratory and biological sources of...

Endogenous circadian rhythms have been described in a wide range of organisms from prokaryotes to man. Although basic circadian mechanisms at the molecular level are genetically fixed, certain properties of circadian rhythms at the organismic level can be modified by environmental conditions and subsequently retained for some time, even in organisms shielded from 24-hr environmental variations....

Aluminum is a ubiquitous element with known toxicity for both human and experimental animals. It has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases. The present study investigates the possible hepatoprotective role of melatonin in modulating the toxicity and the oxidative stress induced by chronic exposure to aluminum chloride (AlCl3) in the liver of male rats. 40 male rats were divide...