Dataset Information

Regulation of monoamine oxidase A by the SRY gene on the Y chromosome.

ABSTRACT: Monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), encoded by the X chromosome, catalyzes the oxidative deamination of monoamine neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, and plays a critically important role in brain development and functions. Abnormal MAO A activity has been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which show sexual dimorphism. However, the molecular basis for these disease processes is unclear. Recently, we found that MAO A was a putative target gene directly regulated by a transcription factor encoded by the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene located on the Y chromosome. We demonstrated that SRY activates both MAO A-promoter and catalytic activities in a human male neuroblastoma BE(2)C cell line. A functional SRY-binding site in the MAO A core promoter was identified and validated by electrophoretic mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analyses. Coimmunoprecipitation and ChIP assays showed that SRY and Sp1 form a transcriptional complex and synergistically activate MAO A transcription. This is the first study demonstrating that the Y-encoded transcription factor SRY is capable of regulating an X-located gene, suggesting a novel molecular mechanism for sexual dimorphism in neural development, brain functions, and initiation/progression of neural disorders associated with MAO A dysfunction.

SUBMITTER: Wu JB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2775015 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Regulation of monoamine oxidase A by the SRY gene on the Y chromosome.

Wu Jason B JB Chen Kevin K Li Yunmin Y Lau Yun-Fai Chris YF Shih Jean C JC

FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 20090806 11

Monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), encoded by the X chromosome, catalyzes the oxidative deamination of monoamine neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, and plays a critically important role in brain development and functions. Abnormal MAO A activity has been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which show sexual dimorphism. However, the molecular basis for these disease processes is unclear. Recently, we found that M ...[more]

PMID: 19661285

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Postulating that serotonin (5-HT), released from smoking-activated platelets could be involved in smoking-induced vascular modifications, we studied its catabolism in a series of 115 men distributed as current smokers (S), never smokers (NS) and former smokers (FS) who had stopped smoking for a mean of 13 years. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 5-HT, monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) activities and amounts were measured in platelets, and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA)--the 5-HT/MAO catabolite--in plasma samples. Both platelet 5-HT and plasma 5-HIAA levels were correlated with the 10-year cardiovascular Framingham relative risk (P<0.01), but these correlations became non-significant after adjustment for smoking status, underlining that the determining risk factor among those taken into account in the Framingham risk calculation was smoking. Surprisingly, the platelet 5-HT content was similar in S and NS but lower in FS with a parallel higher plasma level of 5-HIAA in FS. This was unforeseen since MAO-B activity was inhibited during smoking (P<0.00001). It was, however, consistent with a higher enzyme protein concentration found in S and FS than in NS (P<0.001). It thus appears that MAO inhibition during smoking was compensated by a higher synthesis. To investigate the persistent increase in MAO-B protein concentration, a study of the methylation of its gene promoter was undertaken in a small supplementary cohort of similar subjects. We found that the methylation frequency of the MAOB gene promoter was markedly lower (P<0.0001) for S and FS vs. NS due to cigarette smoke-induced increase of nucleic acid demethylase activity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is one of the first reports that smoking induces an epigenetic modification. A better understanding of the epigenome may help to further elucidate the physiopathology and the development of new therapeutic approaches to tobacco addiction. The results could have a larger impact than cardiovascular damage, considering that MAO-dependent 5-HT catabolism is also involved in addiction, predisposition to cancer, behaviour and mental health.

Dataset Information

Regulation of monoamine oxidase A by the SRY gene on the Y chromosome.

Publications

Regulation of monoamine oxidase A by the SRY gene on the Y chromosome.

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