Choi Donchan
Department of Life Science, College of Environmental Sciences, Yong-In University, Yongin 449-714, Republic of Korea.
Dev Reprod. 2013 Sep;17(3):149-77. doi: 10.12717/DR.2013.17.3.149.
Living beings are surrounded by various changes exhibiting periodical rhythms in environment. The environmental changes are imprinted in organisms in various pattern. The phenomena are believed to match the external signal with organisms in order to increase their survival rate. The signals are categorized into circadian, seasonal, and annual cycles. Among the cycles, the circadian rhythm is regarded as the most important factor because its periodicity is in harmony with the levels of melatonin secreted from pineal gland. Melatonin is produced by the absence of light and its presence displays darkness. Melatonin plays various roles in creatures. Therefore, this review is to introduce the diverse potential ability of melatonin in manifold aspects in living organism.
生物被环境中呈现出周期性节律的各种变化所包围。环境变化以各种模式烙印在生物体中。人们认为这些现象是为了使外部信号与生物体相匹配,从而提高它们的存活率。这些信号可分为昼夜节律、季节节律和年度节律。在这些节律中,昼夜节律被认为是最重要的因素,因为其周期性与松果体分泌的褪黑素水平相协调。褪黑素是在没有光的情况下产生的,其存在表示黑暗。褪黑素在生物体内发挥着多种作用。因此,本综述旨在介绍褪黑素在生物体多个方面的各种潜在能力。