期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1980
卷号:77
期号:8
页码:4998-5002
DOI:10.1073/pnas.77.8.4998
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:There is a large-amplitude circadian rhythm of indoleamine metabolism in the retina-pigment epithelium of the chicken. N-Acetyltransferase activity (arylamine acetyltransferase; acetyl-CoA:arylamine N-acetyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.5 ) and melatonin content are 15-fold higher at night than during the day in a cycle of a 4-fold increase during the subjective night. Light at midnight inactivates N-acetyltransferase and lowers melatonin. N-Acetyltransferase activity is found predominantly in the retina. The circadian rhythm of this enzyme activity persists in pinealectomized chicks. Thus the pineal is not responsible for retinal indoleamine rhythms. Retinal and pineal levels of N-acetyltransferase activity behave similarly under several conditions. In the chicken, the eye is a major site of rhythmic indoleamine metabolic activity.