title: The promoter of the human monoamine oxidase A gene.
abstract: Monoamine oxidase (MAO) A (EC 1.4.3.4) oxidizes norepinephrine and serotonin and is expressed in a cell type-specific manner. Evidence that MAO A deficient males in a large Dutch kindred suffer from mild mental retardation and occasional episodes of impulsive-aggressive behavior makes it important to understand how the human MAO A promoter is regulated. Workers in multiple laboratories have isolated and characterized protein-coding sequences of the human MAO A gene and the DNA region where mRNA synthesis is initiated. After summarizing our published findings concerning where transcription of the human MAO A gene is initiated, I summarize representative results of transient expression assays aimed at assessing whether some potential gene regulatory agents affect the expression of luciferase from MAO A promoter reporter constructs when transfected into a mouse L cell line which expresses MAO A. These studies revealed no specific regulatory effects of serum, dexamethasone or a stable cyclic-AMP analogue on the human MAO A promoter introduced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Denney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000494:pharmacology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase