Premium
Pineal Photoreceptor Cells: Photoperiodic Control of Melatonin Production After Cell Dissociation and Culture
Author(s) -
Bégay Valérie,
Falcón Jacky,
Thibault Christèle,
Ravault JeanPaul,
Collin JeanPierre
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of neuroendocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1365-2826
pISSN - 0953-8194
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2826.1992.tb00177.x
Subject(s) - melatonin , percoll , medicine , darkness , biology , endocrinology , trout , circadian rhythm , population , cell culture , pineal gland , centrifugation , biochemistry , botany , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , genetics , fishery , sociology
Trout pineal cells were dissociated using a trypsin‐DNase digestion technique. An enriched population of photoreceptor cells was selected from a Percoll gradient centrifugation. The ability of cultured photoreceptor cells (selected or not on a Percoll gradient) to produce melatonin rhythmically was investigated during seven 24 h light/dark cycles. During each cycle, trout pineal photoreceptor cells released low amounts of melatonin during daytime and high amounts during night‐time. Under continuous darkness, melatonin release was continually high. The profile of its rhythm and that of the activity of the hydroxyindole‐O‐methyltransferase—the last enzyme of the melatonin biosynthetic pathway—depended on the substrates and on the culture media used. Some of them appear suitable for short‐ or long‐term culture of photoreceptor cells permitting the study of their neuroendocrine properties.