MT1 AND MT2 MELATONIN RECEPTOR EXPRESSION AND IN VITRO MELATONIN EFFECT ON THE PHA-DEPENDENT ACTIVATION OF HUMAN PBMC

Combination of advanced fluorescence technologies with cell-based assays prove to become indispensable tool to study in depth mechanisms in a biological context and meets the challenges of performing high throughput cell screening for biomedical applications. To explore the immunomodulatory activity of the pineal hormone melatonin on human PBMC activation and cell cycle progression we have used the automated Cytell(TM) Cell Imaging System (GE Healthcare) which combines the functions of a digital microscope, an image cytometer, and a cell counter in a single instrument. We detected quantitative alterations of the cell cycle entry and progression inflicted by melatonin. Immune fluorescence showed characteristic pattern of both types melatonin receptors MT1 and MT2 as well as modification of actin rearrangement and CD25+ expression during PBMC activation.