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Stimulation role of epinephrine in transcription of the melatonin synthesis key enzyme AANAT in the pineal gland of broilers

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Abstract

Melatonin is a crucial neurohormone synthesized in the pineal gland that influences the physiology of animals. The molecular mechanism of norepinephrine control of the synthesis of melatonin is well documented; however, few reports have described the effects of epinephrine on the synthesis of melatonin. In this study, the effect of epinephrine on melatonin synthesis was investigated by adding different concentrations of epinephrine or norepinephrine to broiler pineal glands cultured in vitro. In addition, we investigated how epinephrine regulates the synthesis of melatonin and the transcription of the key melatonin synthesis enzyme AANAT. We determined the abundance of melatonin, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in broiler serum and the mRNA expression levels of key enzymes under different light conditions. The minimum concentrations of epinephrine and norepinephrine required to recover the melatonin synthesis rhythm in pineal cells were 10−13 and 10−11 mol/L, respectively. Under various light durations, epinephrine reached maximum levels two hours earlier than melatonin. These results demonstrate for the first time that epinephrine can increase the synthesis of melatonin by increasing the transcription of AANAT.

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Acknowledgements

The Scientific and Technological Research Project in Henan Province (Grant Nos. 162102210297 and 172102110034), Major Scientific and Technological Project in Henan Province (Grant No. 141100110800), and Key Research Projects of Higher Education in Henan Province (Grant No. 17A230011) supported this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062, China

    Yongfen Wang & Jingang Li

  2. College of Biology Engineering, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, 450046, China

    Yongfen Wang, Zhen Zhang, Hongwei Guo, Pengying Li & Lei Xi

  3. College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Qiong Liu

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  1. Yongfen Wang
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  4. Pengying Li
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Contributions

JL participated in conceiving and designing the study. YW performed most of the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. ZZ, HG, PL, and QL participated in several of the experiments. All the authors discussed and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jingang Li.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Wang, Y., Zhang, Z., Guo, H. et al. Stimulation role of epinephrine in transcription of the melatonin synthesis key enzyme AANAT in the pineal gland of broilers. Mol Cell Biochem 453, 111–119 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-018-3436-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-018-3436-3

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