Abstract
Melatonin (MEL) is a neuroendocrine hormone secreted by the pineal gland in association with the suprachiasmatic nucleus and peripheral tissues. MEL has been observed to play a critical role in the reproductive process and in the fetomaternal interface. Extrapineal synthesis has been reported in mammalian models during pregnancy, especially by the placenta tissue. MEL can regulate intracellular processes (e.g., G-proteins) and the activity of second messengers (e.g., cAMP, IP3, Ca2+). During neurodevelopment, these activities regulated by melatonin have an important role as an intracellular signaling for gene expression regulation. To review the role of MEL in neurodevelopment, we built interactome networks of different proteins that act in these processes using systems biology tools. The analyses of interactome networks revealed that MEL could modulate neurodevelopment through the regulation of Ca2+ intracellular levels and influencing BMP/SMAD signaling, thus affecting neural gene responses and neuronal differentiation.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by research grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; Grant number 471769/2007-0) and Programa Institutos Nacionais de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT de Processos Redox em Biomedicina-REDOXOMA; Grant number 573530/2008-4).
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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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de Faria Poloni, J., Feltes, B.C. & Bonatto, D. Melatonin as a central molecule connecting neural development and calcium signaling. Funct Integr Genomics 11, 383–388 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-011-0221-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-011-0221-8