Melatonin, the major hormone produced by the pineal gland, displays characteristic daily and seasonal patterns of secretion. These robust and predictable rhythms in circulating melatonin are strong synchronizers for the expression of numerous physiological processes in photoperiodic species. In mammals, the nighttime production of melatonin is mainly driven by the circadian clock, situated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, which controls the release of norepinephrine from the dense pineal sympathetic afferents. The pivotal role of norepinephrine in the nocturnal stimulation of melatonin synthesis has been extensively dissected at the cellular and molecular levels. Besides the noradrenergic input, the presence of numerous other transmitters originating from various sources has been reported in the pineal gland. Many of these are neuropeptides and appear to contribute to the regulation of melatonin synthesis by modulating the effects of norepinephrine on pineal biochemistry. The aim of this review is firstly to update our knowledge of the cellular and molecular events underlying the noradrenergic control of melatonin synthesis; and secondly to gather together early and recent data on the effects of the nonadrenergic transmitters on modulation of melatonin synthesis. This information reveals the variety of inputs that can be integrated by the pineal gland; what elements are crucial to deliver the very precise timing information to the organism. This also clarifies the role of these various inputs in the seasonal variation of melatonin synthesis and their subsequent physiological function.

Generation of the Melatonin Endocrine Message in Mammals: A Review of the Complex Regulation of Melatonin Synthesis by Norepinephrine, Peptides, and Other Pineal Transmitters

Pineal nitric oxide synthase: characteristics, adrenergic regulation and function.

The presence of soluble guanylate cyclase in the pineal and its regulation by adrenergic pathways has been well documented. Recent evidence points to adrenergically stimulated nitric oxide generation as a mechanism for coupling this pathway. To what extent nitric oxide (NO) signalling can influence adrenergically stimulated melatonin synthesis has not been investigated. Cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophospate (cGMP) signal transduction in the bovine pineal has also received little attention. We describe in the present report: 1) a dose-dependent elevation of cGMP in response to the nitrovasodilators, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and 3-morpholino-sydnonimine (SIN-1), 2) a dose-dependent inhibition of melatonin synthesis by SNP and SIN-1, but not by 8-Br-cGMP in both bovine and rat pineal cell cultures, which is not due to cytotoxicity as judged by two different approaches, and 3) immunohistochemical evidence for the presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) (EC 1.14.23.-) in the intact bovine pineal gland and in cultured bovine pinealocytes. These data support the view that NOS is a component of the cGMP-generating system in mammalian pinealocytes. Although NO-donor molecules are also potent activators of cGMP accumulation, they may have other important actions in the pineal, namely the inhibition of adrenergic-stimulated melatonin synthesis. As SNP and SIN-1 exerted this inhibitory effect on cells regardless of whether they were stimulated by isoproterenol, forskolin or 8-Br-cAMP it would appear that NO-donors can act 'downstream' from the receptor/adenylate cyclase level.

The Effect of NO‐Donors in Bovine and Rat Pineal Cells: Stimulation of cGMP and cGMP‐Independent Inhibition of Melatonin Synthesis

Natriuretic peptides elevate cyclic 3',5'-guanosine monophosphate levels in cultured rat pinealocytes: evidence for guanylate cyclase-linked membrane receptors.

Recent studies have pointed to membrane-bound guanylyl cyclases (GCs) type A and type B in the rat pineal gland, which augment levels of cyclic GMP (cGMP) in response to atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). The present report demonstrates for the first time the expression of CNP in the bovine pineal gland. The CNP prohormone transcript (unlike pre-pro-ANP) was found by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR in bovine pineal extracts. CNP immunoreactivity (ir) was revealed in a subpopulation of pinealocytes in situ and in nearly all pinealocytes in culture. Electron microscopic immunohistochemical investigations showed the presence of CNP-ir in cytoplasmic vesicles, providing evidence for the potential secretion of this peptide by pineal cells. Furthermore, the CNP receptor (GC-B) and GC-A (receptor for ANP and BNP) were identified by RT-PCR. Although melatonin secretion was unaffected, natriuretic peptides were able to elevate markedly cGMP production in cultured bovine pinealocytes with a rank order of potency of CNP > BNP = ANP. These findings describe a tissue CNP system in the bovine pineal gland and suggest that CNP may be a local auto- or paracrine modulator of pineal function.

Expression of C-type natriuretic peptide in the bovine pineal gland.

Adrenergic stimulation of the adult pineal gland increases cAMP and cGMP production by over 100-fold. beta-Adrenergic stimulation results in Gs alpha-mediated cyclase activation; alpha 1-adrenergic activation potentiates the beta-adrenergic effects through mechanisms mediated by the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and Ca(2+)-phospholipid-dependent protein kinase. Development analysis of these responses has indicated that the adrenergic stimulation of cAMP is present several days after birth, but the cGMP response develops only after the second week of life. In the study presented here, the adrenergic-->cGMP response was analyzed in pineal glands from 10- and 25-day-old rats, with the intention of determining the basis of the developmental appearance of this response. Organ culture and tissue homogenate studies indicated that guanylate cyclase activity, cGMP phosphodiesterase activity, and adrenergic elevation of phospholipase-A2 were similar in pineal glands from 10- and 25-day-old rats. Norepinephrine stimulated an increase in [Ca2+]i in dispersed pinealocytes from 10-day-old rats, as has been previously demonstrated in adult pinealocytes. In contrast, several treatments that elevate [Ca2+]i had no effect on cGMP accumulation in forskolin-treated or beta-adrenergically activated glands from 10-day-old rats, but were fully effective in similarly treated glands from 25-day-old rats. However, glands from 10-day-old animals showed a 33-fold accumulation of cGMP when they were cultured together with glands from 25-day-old rats. These studies indicate that whereas many elements in the system that mediate adrenergic regulation of pineal cGMP are fully developed at 10 days of age, the developmental appearance of the cGMP response is triggered by the development of a process down-stream of the alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of [Ca2+]i, and this process may involve a diffusible factor.

Developmental appearance of pineal adrenergic-->guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate response is determined by a process down-stream from elevation of intracellular Ca2+: possible involvement of a diffusible factor.

B H White

Papers

Developmental appearance of pineal adrenergic-->guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate response is determined by a process down-stream from elevation of intracellular Ca2+: possible involvement of a diffusible factor.