Temporal expression patterns of the melatoninergic system in the human thymus of children
| Autor: | Patricia J. Lardone, Patrocinio Molinero, Ivan Cruz-Chamorro, Antonio Carrillo-Vico, Cristina Escalante-Andicoechea, Amalia Rubio, Juan M. Guerrero, Nuria Álvarez-Sánchez |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Bioquímica Médica y Biología Molecular e Inmunología |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
medicine.medical_specialty endocrine system lcsh:Internal medicine AANAT Nuclear receptor ROR-alpha 030209 endocrinology & metabolism Thymus Gland Biology Melatonin receptor Polymerase Chain Reaction Melatonin 03 medical and health sciences Pineal gland 0302 clinical medicine Immune system ASMT Internal medicine medicine Humans Receptor lcsh:RC31-1245 Child Molecular Biology Gene Expression Profiling Infant Newborn Infant Cell Biology Thymus 030104 developmental biology medicine.anatomical_structure Endocrinology Nuclear receptor Child Preschool Arylalkylamine Original Article hormones hormone substitutes and hormone antagonists medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | Molecular Metabolism Molecular Metabolism, Vol 28, Iss, Pp 83-90 (2019) idUS: Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla Universidad de Sevilla (US) idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla instname |
| ISSN: | 2212-8778 |
| Popis: | Objectives To obtain greater knowledge of the extra-pineal sources of melatonin during development, the amount of indolamine and the expression levels of the last two enzymes involved in its biosynthesis, Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) and acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase (ASMT), were analyzed in the human thymus from children from three different age groups (from days to years). The melatonin membrane and nuclear receptor expression levels also were studied. Methods Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR and western blot were performed to investigate the receptor and enzyme expression levels. The results were examined and correlated with the ages of the thymuses. Results We found high levels of indolamine in the thymuses of newborns (younger than 1 month), which decreased during development; thymuses from the months (from 2 to 11 months) and years (from 1 to 12 years) groups showed lower levels. A similar decline was also observed in the mRNA of the AANAT enzyme and the expression levels of melatonin receptors. However, ASMT expression was exactly the opposite, with low levels in the newborn group and higher levels in the years group. Our results show that the thymic synthesis of melatonin occurs very early in childhood. Additionally, this is the first report that is focused on melatonin receptors expression in the human thymus. Conclusion Considering the limited melatonin synthesis performed by the newborn pineal gland, we suggest that the high levels of melatonin found in human thymus in this experimental group arise from synthesis in the tissue itself, which could be contributing to the immune efficiency at the thymic level. Highlights • Melatonin biosynthetic machinery in the human thymus from children changes with age. • Melatonin content in the human thymus is higher in newborns. • The thymus not only synthesizes melatonin but also responds to it. • The melatonin effector system decreases throughout childhood. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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