The recent discovery of nonvisual photoreceptors in various organs has raised expectations for uncovering their roles and underlying mechanisms. In this work, we identified a previously unrecognized hormone-releasing mechanism in the pituitary of the Japanese rice fish (medaka) induced by light. Ca imaging analysis revealed that melanotrophs, a type of pituitary endocrine cell that secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone, robustly increase the concentration of intracellular Ca during short-wavelength light exposure. Moreover, we identified Opn5m as the key molecule that drives this response. Knocking out attenuated melanogenesis by reducing expression in the skin. Our findings suggest a mechanism in which direct reception of short-wavelength light by pituitary melanotrophs triggers a pathway that might contribute to protection from ultraviolet radiation in medaka.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adj9687DOI Listing

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