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Science 14 February 1986:
Vol. 231. no. 4739, pp. 735 - 737
DOI: 10.1126/science.3454660
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Articles

Science, Vol 231, Issue 4739, 735-737
Copyright © 1986 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Pinealocyte projections into the mammalian brain revealed with S-antigen antiserum

HW Korf, A Oksche, P Ekstrom, I Gery, JS Zigler Jr, and DC Klein

Neural processes from mammalian pinealocytes have been discovered in several brain areas. These processes were visualized immunocytochemically in the Djungarian hamster, Phodopus sungorus, with an antiserum against bovine retinal S-antigen and traced as far as the region of the posterior commissure and habenular nuclei. This result indicates that pineal-to-brain connections exist in the mammal, and that the mammalian pineal gland, currently thought of only as a neuroendocrine organ, may communicate directly with select brain regions by way of these projections. The existence of mammalian pinealocyte projections is consistent with the view that these cells are not of glial origin but are derivatives of photoreceptor cells of the pineal complex of lower vertebrates that transmit signals to the brain by neural projections.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Generation of the Melatonin Endocrine Message in Mammals: A Review of the Complex Regulation of Melatonin Synthesis by Norepinephrine, Peptides, and Other Pineal Transmitters.
V. Simonneaux and C. Ribelayga (2003)
Pharmacol. Rev. 55, 325-395
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Semiquantitative Image-analytical Method for the Recording of Dose–Response Curves in Immunocytochemical Preparations.
H. Wicht, E. Maronde, J. Olcese, and H.-W. Korf (1999)
J. Histochem. Cytochem. 47, 411-420
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Developmental Expression Pattern of Phototransduction Components in Mammalian Pineal Implies a Light-Sensing Function.
S. Blackshaw and S. H. Snyder (1997)
J. Neurosci. 17, 8074-8082
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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