Summary
The amount of glycogen in pineal cells of 60-day-old male dd-mice was estimated at various times of the day by means of a quantitative histochemical method.
The level of glycogen stores varied periodically in correlation with the environmental light-dark cycle, being lowest at the end of the daily dark period and highest at the end of the daily light period.
The size of pineal cells also varied diurnally, being largest at 9 AM, two hours after the beginning of the daily photoperiod, and smallest at 9 PM, two hours after the end of the daily photoperiod; however, these changes were less marked than those in glycogen level. The changes in cell size were delayed by a few hours as compared with changes in glycogen stores.
In blinded male mice of the same age, neither pineal glycogen level nor pineal cell size varied in response to diurnal lighting.
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Supported by a grant from Takeda Science Foundation, Japan.
We thank Professor Sam L. Clark, Jr., University of Massachusetts, for his reading and criticism of the manuscript.
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Kachi, T., Matsushima, S. & Ito, T. Diurnal changes in glycogen content in the pineal cells of the male mouse. Z. Zellforsch. 118, 310–314 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331189
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331189