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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures
Published on: November 11, 2016
When the circadian clock meets the melanin pigmentary system
Andrzej T Slominski1, Rüdiger Hardeland2, Russel J Reiter3
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Division of Connective Tissue Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Abstract:
Silencing of BMAL1 and PER1 stimulates melanogenic activity of follicular and epidermal melanocytes, indicating a novel role for peripheral circadian clock processes in the regulation of melanin pigmentation. Linking the expression levels of BMAL1/PER1 with changes in melanogenesis opens exciting opportunities to study the role of the local molecular clock in modulation of melanocyte functions in the hair follicle and the epidermis with attendant effects on epidermal barrier functions in general.
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