| First Author | Roseboom PH | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Brain Res Mol Brain Res | Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 189-97 |
| PubMed ID | 9838107 | Mgi Jnum | J:51516 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1316848 | Doi | 10.1016/s0169-328x(98)00273-3 |
| Citation | Roseboom PH, et al. (1998) Natural melatonin 'knockdown' in C57BL/6J mice: rare mechanism truncates serotonin N-acetyltransferase. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 63(1):189-97 |
| abstractText | Pineal melatonin synthesis (serotonin --> N-acetylserotonin --> melatonin) is severely compromised in most inbred strains of mice, in many cases because serotonin is not acetylated by serotonin N-acetyltransferase (arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, AANAT). We have found that in the C57BL/6J strain, AANAT mRNA encodes a severely truncated AANAT protein, because a pseudo-exon containing a stop codon is spliced in. This is the first identification of a natural mutation which knocks down melatonin synthesis. The decrease in melatonin signaling may have been a selective factor in the development of laboratory strains of mice because melatonin can inhibit reproduction and modify circadian rhythmicity. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. |
