Twenty-four hour oscillation of cAMP in chick pineal cells: role of cAMP in the acute and circadian regulation of melatonin production.

Chick pineal cells contain circadian oscillators that regulate a rhythm of melatonin biosynthesis. We explored the role of cAMP in regulating this melatonin rhythm. Chick pineal cells expressed a 24 hr oscillation of cAMP efflux with a waveform similar to that of melatonin. Elevation of cAMP in chick pineal cells stimulated melatonin. These results suggest that an oscillation of cAMP regulates the rhythm of melatonin. We investigated whether cAMP was a component of the circadian oscillator by determining the effects of 8-Br cAMP pulses on the phase of the circadian melatonin rhythm. Six hour pulses of 8-Br cAMP did not cause steady-state phase shifts of the rhythm. The acute regulation of melatonin by cAMP, the 24 hr oscillation of cAMP, and the inability of cAMP to phase-shift the melatonin rhythm strongly suggest that cAMP acts as an output signal of the circadian oscillator.