Daily variation in melatonin synthesis and AA-NAT activity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

MIGLIORE L; ROMANOWSKI A; SIMONETTA S; VALDEZ DJ; GUIDO ME; GOLOMBEK D

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2012 vol. 53 p. 38 - 38

font face="Times-Roman"> Melatonin controls circadian rhythms and seasonal behavioral changes in vertebrates; it is synthesized from serotonin by N-acetylation by arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) and O-methylation by hydroxyindole-O-methyl transferase (HIOMT). However, its physiology and function in invertebrate models is less understood. In this work, we studied daily variations in melatonin synthesis and AA-NAT activity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Under light-dark conditions (LD) a rhythmic pattern of melatonin levels was observed, with higher levels of the hormone towards the middle of the night, peaking at ZT18 and with a minimum value around ZT0-6. AA-NAT activity showed a diurnal and circadian fluctuation with high