Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
J Pineal Res. 2011 Aug;51(1):104-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2011.00867.x. Epub 2011 Mar 11.
Melatonin, an endogenously produced neurohormone secreted by the pineal gland, has a variety of physiological functions and neuroprotective effects. It can modulate the functions of neural stem cells (NSCs) including proliferation and differentiation in embryonic brain tissue but its effect and mechanism on the stem cells in hypoxia remains to be explored. Here, we show that melatonin stimulates proliferation of NSCs during hypoxia. Additionally, it also promoted the differentiation of NSCs into neurons. However, it did not appear to exert an obvious effect on the differentiation of astrocytes. The present results have further shown that the promotional effect of NSCs proliferation by melatonin involved the MT1 receptor and increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2. The effect of melatonin on differentiation of NSCs is linked to altered expression of differentiation-related genes. In the light of these findings, it is suggested that melatonin may be beneficial as a supplement for treatment of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury for promoting the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.
褪黑素是由松果体分泌的内源性神经激素，具有多种生理功能和神经保护作用。它可以调节神经干细胞（NSCs）的功能，包括胚胎脑组织中的增殖和分化，但它对缺氧状态下的干细胞的作用和机制仍有待探索。在这里，我们发现褪黑素在缺氧条件下刺激 NSCs 的增殖。此外，它还促进 NSCs 向神经元分化。然而，它似乎对星形胶质细胞的分化没有明显影响。目前的结果进一步表明，褪黑素通过 MT1 受体促进 NSCs 增殖，增加 ERK1/2 的磷酸化。褪黑素对 NSCs 分化的影响与分化相关基因的表达改变有关。鉴于这些发现，建议褪黑素可作为治疗新生儿缺氧缺血性脑损伤的补充剂，以促进 NSCs 的增殖和分化。
