Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2023 Mar 28;55(1):1262–1286. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2191218

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

PMC Copyright notice

Figure 3. — Melatonin acts as a circadian pacemaker and advances the SCN phase [93–97]. The retinohypothalamic tract mediates cAMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation via pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) release under light stimulation in SCN cells; PACAP release is responsible for light-induced phase shifts. The binding of melatonin to MT1 inhibits PACAP-induced CREB phosphorylation in the SCN. Melatonin receptors activate G-protein-coupled Kir3 ion channels, inhibit the rhythmic firing of SCN neurons and regulate circadian rhythms. Melatonin activates PKC in the SCN and induces phase resetting, and through this signaling, the expression of core clock genes, Period 1 (Per1) and Period 2 (Per2), increases within the SCN. Figure 2 was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com).