Melatonin modulates monochromatic light-induced melatonin receptor expression in the hypothalamus of chicks

作者：Zhang, Liwei; Chen, Funing; Cao, Jing; Dong, Yulan; Wang, Zixu; Chen, Yaoxing^*

来源：Acta Histochemica, 2017, 119(7): 733-739.

DOI：10.1016/j.acthis.2017.09.005

• Monochromatic light
• Melatonin
• Melatonin receptor
• Hypothalamus
• Chick

To study the mechanism of the effect of monochromatic light on physiological function in chicken, a total of 192 newly hatched chicks were randomly divided into intact, sham-operated and pinealectomy groups then exposed to white light (WL), red light (RL), green light (GL) and blue light (BL) using a light-emitting diode (LED) system for two weeks. At P14, the hypothalami were immediately collected for immunohistochemical staining of melatonin receptor subtypes (Melia and Mellb) and detection of Mella and Mellb expressions using RT-PCR and western blot. Immunohistochemical staining of the hypothalamus showed that the Mella-ir cells were distributed in the preoptic area (POA), nucleus preopticus periventricularis (POP) and suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), and the Melib-ir cells were presented in the POA and SCN. Analysis of RT-PCR and western blot showed that the mRNA and protein levels of Mella and Mellb in the hypothalamus of chick exposed to GL were increased by 10.7-29.3%, 9.18-35.9% and 8.97-27.3% compared to those in the chicks exposed to WL (P = 0.029-0.002), RL (P = 0.027-0.001) and BL (P = 0.038-0.007) in the intact group, respectively. After pinealectomy, however, these parameters decreased and there were no significant differences among the WL, RL, GL and BL groups. These findings suggested that melatonin plays a critical role in GL illumination-enhanced Mella and Mellb expressions in the hypothalamus of chicks.

• 出版日期2017
• 单位中国农业大学