Citation

Hardeland R. Int. J. Biometeorol. 1997; 41(2): 47-57.

Affiliation

I. Zoologisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, International Society of Biometeorology, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9429339

Abstract

Melatonin is not only produced by the pineal gland, retina and parietal but also by various other tissues and cells from vertebrates, invertebrates, fungi, plants, multicellular algae and by unicells. In plants, many invertebrates and unicells, its concentration often exceeds that found in vertebrate blood by several orders of magnitude. The action of melatonin is highly pleiotropic. It involves firstly, direct effects, via specific binding sites in various peripheral tissues and cells of vertebrates, including immunomodulation; secondly, systemic influences on the cytoskeleton and nitric oxide formation, mediated by calmodulin; and thirdly, antioxidative protection, perhaps also in the context of photoprotection in plants and unicells. In some dinoflagellates, melatonin conveys temperature signals. On the basis of these comparisons, melatonin appears to mediate and modulate influences from several major environmental factors, such as the photoperiod, radiation intensity and temperature.

Language: en