ArticlePloS one2015
Melatonin inhibits embryonic salivary gland branching morphogenesis by regulating both epithelial cell adhesion and morphology.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Melatonin-Hydrogel Delivery Systems for Effective Treatments of Periodontitis: Translational Perspectives from Material Designs to Clinical Applications.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The contribution of circadian clock to the biological processes.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2024Review
- Aging-Related Metabolic Dysfunction in the Salivary Gland: A Review of the Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Melatonin release by exocytosis in the rat parotid gland.Journal of anatomy · 2019Article
- Identification of the protective mechanisms of Lactoferrin in the irradiated salivary gland.Scientific reports · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many organs, including salivary glands, lung, and kidney, are formed by epithelial branching during embryonic development. Branching morphogenesis occurs via either local outgrowths or the formation of clefts that subdivide epithelia into buds. This process is promoted by various factors, but the mechanism of branching morphogenesis is not fully understood. Here we have defined melatonin as a potential negative regulator or "brake" of branching morphogenesis, shown that the levels of it and its receptors decline when branching morphogenesis begins, and identified the process that it regulates. Melatonin has various physiological functions, including circadian rhythm regulation, free-radical scavenging, and gonadal development. Furthermore, melatonin is present in saliva and may have an important physiological role in the oral cavity. In this study, we found that the melatonin receptor is highly expressed on the acinar epithelium of the embryonic submandibular gland. We also found that exogenous melatonin reduces salivary gland size and inhibits branching morphogenesis. We suggest that this inhibition does not depend on changes in either proliferation or apoptosis, but rather relates to changes in epithelial cell adhesion and morphology. In summary, we have demonstrated a novel function of melatonin in organ formation during embryonic development.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.