Melatonin from an Antioxidant to a Classic Hormone or a Tissue Factor: Experimental and Clinical Aspects 2018
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 142245
Special Issue Editors
Interests: redox regulation; antioxidant enzymes; cell signaling; prostate cancer; cell metabolism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: redox regulation; antioxidant enzymes; oxidative stress; prostate cancer; melatonin
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Melatonin, the primary product of the pineal gland, was discovered in the late 1950s as a hormonal factor that lightens the skin of tadpoles. This effect, the first reported biological function of melatonin, is far from revealing the actual role of the indole. In the mid-1960s, Hoffman and Reiter found that seasonal fluctuations of melatonin synchronize reproductive activities in seasonal breeding animals. Since then, researchers’ knowledge about the indole has changed dramatically. Not only is the essential function of the cell questioned, but also where the indole can be found, and how it is synthesized.
Melatonin is released at night with a duration inverse to that of the photoperiod, participating in the transmission of the circadian and seasonal message to the organism. In humans, the pineal hormone is also used to readjust the circadian phases, after time shifts derived from jet lag or maladapted shift work, in sleep disorders, blind people or in circadian-related mood disorders. Additionally, melatonin was found to be an endogenous potent-free radical scavenger and enhancer of the antioxidant system, thus protecting cells from the harmful effect of pro-oxidants. This protecting effect should be added to the immunomodulatory and anti-proliferative actions widely reported in many cell and animal models. More recently, the physiological interaction between melatonin and glucose metabolism has been the focus of attention of several research groups. Melatonin controls the daily rhythms of glucose levels by altering insulin release, or by inhibiting glucose uptake. Melatonin functions are mediated by membrane receptors MT1 and MT2, intracellular binding sites or as a consequence of receptor-independent actions.
All papers related to any aspect of melatonin physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as clinical reports, will be considered for this Special Issue.
Prof. Dr. Rosa M. Sainz
Prof. Dr. Juan C. Mayo
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- animal
- plant
- microbiota
- metabolism
- glucose
- cancer
- diabetes
- insulin resistance
- stem cells
- genomics
- metabolomics
- proteomics
- cell growth
- cell death
- differentiation
- apoptosis
- oxidative stress
- redox signalling
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