Summary
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1.
Chickens kept in constant light, as opposed to constant darkness, display a twofold increase in the activity of pineal hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), the last acting enzyme in the melatonin pathway.
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2.
Using an immunological approach, we presently show that this regulation of HIOMT activity reflects changes in the concentration of a single molecular form of the enzyme protein (a 38 kDa polypeptide). Immunohistofluorescence indicates that these concentration changes concurrently affect modified photoreceptors and pinealocyte-like cells in the chicken pineal organ.
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3.
Together, the present data support the hypothesis that environmental lighting might regulate the expression of the HIOMT gene.
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Guerlotté, J., Voisin, P., Bernard, M. et al. Long-term effects of constant light or darkness on chicken pineal hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase expression: biochemical and cellular aspects. Cell Mol Neurobiol 12, 177–184 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00713371
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00713371