Melatonin: Its expanding universe

  • Virna Margarita Martin Gimenez Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Químicas, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Tecnológicas, Universidad Católica de Cuyo, San Juan, Argentina
  • Rama Sharma Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine, San Antonio, TX, USA
  • Walter Manucha Área de Farmacología, Departamento de Patología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza and Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo (IMBECU), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina
Keywords: Dr. Russel Reiter, National University of Cuyo, Doctor Honoris Causa, melatonin, antioxidant, mitochondria

Abstract

Dr. Russel J. Reiter was awarded his fifth honorary title by the National University of Cuyo, Argentina, for his exemplary contributions towards unraveling the mysteries of the pineal gland and, importantly, its major secretory product, melatonin. This commentary provides a glimpse of his accomplishments and a summary of his speech during the ceremony.

References

1. Hoffman RA, Reiter RJ (1965) Pineal gland: influence on gonads of male hamsters. Science 148 (3677):1609-11.
2. Reiter RJ, Sharma R (2021) Central and peripheral actions of melatonin on reproduction in seasonal and continuous breeding mammals. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 1;300:113620.
3. Zhao D, Yu Y, Shen Y, Liu Q, Zhao Z, Sharma R, Reiter RJ (2019) Melatonin synthesis and function: Evolutionary history in animals and plants. Front. Endocrinol. (Lausanne). 10: 249.
4. Carrillo-Vico A, Reiter RJ, Lardone PJ, Herrera JL, Fernández-Montesinos R, Guerrero JM, Pozo D (2006) The modulatory role of melatonin on immune responsiveness. Curr. Opin. Investig. Drugs 7: 423-31.
5. Reiter RJ, Tan DX, Korkmaz A, Erren TC, Piekarski C, Tamura H, Manchester LC. (2007) Light at night, chronodisruption, melatonin suppression, and cancer risk: a review. Crit. Rev. Oncog. 13: 303-28. doi: 10.1615/critrevoncog.v13.i4.30.
6. Tan DX, Reiter RJ, Zimmerman S, Hardeland R (2023) Melatonin: Both a messenger of darkness and a participant in the cellular actions of non-visible solar radiation of near infrared light. Biology (Basel). 12: 89. doi: 10.3390/biology12010089.
7. Tan DX, Reiter RJ (2019) Mitochondria: the birth place, battle ground and the site of melatonin metabolism in cells. Melatonin Res. 2: 44-66.
8. Manchester LC, Coto-Montes A, Boga JA, Andersen LP, Zhou Z, Galano A, Vriend J, Tan DX, Reiter RJ (2015) Melatonin: an ancient molecule that makes oxygen metabolically tolerable. J. Pineal Res. 59: 403-19. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12267.
9. Reiter RJ, Tan DX, Rosales-Corral S, Galano A, Zhou XJ, Xu B (2018) Mitochondria: Central organelles for melatonin's antioxidant and anti-aging actions. Molecules 23: 509. doi: 10.3390/molecules23020509.
10. Reiter RJ, Tan DX, Poeggeler B, Menendez-Pelaez A, Chen LD, Saarela S (1994) Melatonin as a free radical scavenger: implications for aging and age-related diseases. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 719: 1-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1994.tb56817.x.
11. Dubbels R, Reiter RJ, Klenke E, Goebel A, Schnakenberg E, Ehlers C, Schiwara HW, Schloot W (1995) Melatonin in edible plants identified by radioimmunoassay and by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. J. Pineal Res. 18 (1): 28-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079x.1995.tb00136.x.
12. Hattori A, Migitaka H, Iigo M, Itoh M, Yamamoto K, Ohtani-Kaneko R, Hara M, Suzuki T, Reiter RJ (1995) Identification of melatonin in plants and its effects on plasma melatonin levels and binding to melatonin receptors in vertebrates. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int. 1995 35 (3): 627-634.
13. Reiter RJ, Sharma R, Rosales-Corral S, de Campos Zuccari DAP, de Almeida Chuffa LG (2022) Melatonin: A mitochondrial resident with a diverse skill set. Life Sci. 301: 120612. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2022.120612.
14. Martín Giménez VM, de Las Heras N, Lahera V, Tresguerres JAF, Reiter RJ, Manucha W (2022) Melatonin as an Anti-Aging Therapy for Age-Related Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Front. Aging Neurosci. 14: 888292. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.888292.
Published
2023-06-30
How to Cite
[1]
Martin Gimenez, V.M., Sharma, R. and Manucha, W. 2023. Melatonin: Its expanding universe. Melatonin Research. 6, 2 (Jun. 2023), 229-233. DOI:https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32794/mr112500152.
Section
Letter to Editor