Molecular pharmacology of the mouse melatonin receptors MT1 and MT2

Abstract The main melatonin receptorsare two G-protein coupled receptorsnamed MT 1 and MT 2 . Having described the molecular pharmacologyof the human versions of these receptors, we turned to two of the three species most useful in studying melatoninphysiology: rat and sheep (a diurnal species used to understand the relationship between circadian rhythmand depression). We also employed previously used compounds to describe the mouse melatonin receptors; despite the early cloning of mouse receptors, few molecular pharmacologystudies on these receptors exist. To our surprise, we detected no major differences between the data obtained from mice and those from other species.