Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) is the key regulatory enzyme in the melatonin biosynthetic pathway. Previous investigations have reported that Aa-nat mRNA in rat is only detected in a sub-population of photoreceptor cells that resemble cones in shape and size. In the present study, we investigated Aa-nat expression in the rat retina by using in situ hybridization and laser capture microdissection combined with the reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction technique. Our results demonstrate that, contrary to previous reports, Aa-nat transcripts are present not only in the photoreceptor cells, but also in the inner nuclear layer and in the ganglion cell layer. However, the rhythmic expression of Aa-nat mRNA was observed only in photoreceptor cells.
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