Pineal Melatonin: Comparative Approaches to Human Health and Disease

The pineal gland and its major hormone melatonin have been implicated in a wide array of physiological processes ranging from photoperiodic control of reproduction and other processes to circadian control of behavior and physiology to cellular aging and antioxidant activity in organisms ranging from plants and basal metazoans to humans. In addition, although it has been largely recognized as a hormone produced by the pineal gland in vertebrates, it is also known to be synthesized in the retina, the gastrointestinal system and perhaps by deep-brain photoreceptors. These functions associated with melatonin have also been associated with an even wider array of clinical therapies for psychiatric, neurological, and cell biological disorder such as cancer. It is axiomatic that clinical scientists may gain insights into pathologies through interaction with basic scientists, but it is equally clear that basic researchers can benefit from clinical manifestations of the processes they hold dear. It is also true that there are significant differences in opinion among scientists studying the pineal gland and its hormones. Among these are questions of whether non-vertebrate animals produce melatonin and, if so, by what biosynthetic pathways? Does melatonin act on the plethora of processes through receptor-mediated or non-receptor-meditated mechanisms? What is role of the circadian clock in melatonin effects and vice versa? This Gordon Conference will bring together basic scientists interested in fundamental molecular and biochemical studies of melatonin biosynthesis and effects with clinical scientists interested in the role pineal melatonin plays in pathologies including autism, epilepsy, cancers and gastrointestinal disease. It will also compare and contrast the scientific evidence of melatonin’s actions through its known cognate receptors and its role as an antioxidant molecule.