The monoamine oxidase-A inhibitor clorgyline promotes a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line.

Monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) dysfunction has been historically associated with depression. Recently, depression as well as altered MAO-A expression have both been associated with a poor prognosis in cancers, although the mechanism involved remains ambiguous. For example, MAO-A mRNA is repressed across cancers, yet MAO-A protein and levels of serotonin, a substrate of MAO-A implicated in depression, are paradoxically increased in malignancies, including breast cancer. The effect of clorgyline (CLG), a selective inhibitor of MAO-A, on malignant behaviour, expression of transitional markers, and biochemical correlates was examined in two human breast carcinoma cell lines, i.e. the epithelial, oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 cell line and the post-EMT (mesenchymal), ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cell line. CLG exerted little effect on malignant behaviour in MCF-7 cells, but inhibited proliferation and anchorage-independent growth, and increased invasiveness and active migration of MDA-MB-231 cells. CLG induced the expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin in MCF-7 cells, but not in MDA-MB-231 cells. In contrast, CLG induced the epithelial protein marker E-cadherin in both cell lines, with a more robust effect in MDA-MB-231 cells (where a nuclear E-cadherin signal was also detected). This effect appears to be independent of any canonical Snai1-mediated regulation of E-cadherin mRNA expression. CLG interfered with the ß-catenin/[phospho]GSK-3ß complex as well as the E-cadherin/ß-catenin complex in both cell lines cells, but, again, the effect was more robust in MDA-MB-231 cells. Parallel studies revealed a general lack of effect of CLG on the ER-negative, epithelial Au565 breast cancer cell line. Thus, any effect of CLG on metastatic behaviours appears to rely on the cell's EMT status rather than on the cell's ER status. These data suggest that inactivation of MAO-A triggers a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in MDA-MB-231 cells via a non-canonical mechanism. This potentially implicates an MAO-A-sensitive step in advanced breast cancer and should be borne in mind when considering pharmacological treatment options for co-morbid depression in breast cancer patients.

Aspartic acid substitutions in monoamine oxidase-A reveal both catalytic-dependent and -independent influences on cell viability and proliferation.

Post-translational influences could underlie the ambiguous roles of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) in pathologies such as depression, cancer and Alzheimer disease. In support of this, we recently demonstrated that the Ca²âº-sensitive component of MAO-A catalytic activity is inhibited by a pro-survival p38 (MAPK)-dependent mechanism. We substituted three aspartic acid (D) residues in human MAO-A that reside in putative Ca²âº-binding motifs and overexpressed the individual proteins in the human HEK293 cell line. We assayed the overexpressed proteins for catalytic activity and for their influence on cell viability (using MTT conversion and trypan blue exclusion) and proliferation/DNA synthesis [using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation]. Innate MAO-A catalytic activity (and the capacity for generating hydrogen peroxide) was unaffected by the D61A substitution, but inhibited moderately or completely by the D248A and D328G substitutions, respectively. The Ca²âº-sensitive activities of wild-type and D248A MAO-A proteins were enhanced by treatment with the selective p38(MAPK) inhibitor, SB203580, but was completely abrogated by the D61A substitution. Monoamine oxidase-A(D61A) was toxic to cells and exerted no effect on cell proliferation, while MAO-A(D248A) was generally comparable to wild-type MAO-A. As expected, the catalytic-dead MAO-A(D328G) was not cytotoxic, but unexpectedly enhanced both MTT conversion and BrdU staining. Variant-dependent changes in Bax and Bcl-2/Bcl-XL protein expression were observed. A different pattern of effects in N2-a cells suggests cell line-dependent roles for MAO-A. A catalytic-dependent mechanism influences MAO-A-mediated cytotoxicity, whereas a catalytic-independent mechanism contributes to proliferation. Context-dependent inputs by either mechanism could underlie the ambiguous pathological contributions of MAO-A.

Alzheimer disease-related presenilin-1 variants exert distinct effects on monoamine oxidase-A activity in vitro.

Monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) has been associated with both depression and Alzheimer disease (AD). Recently, carriers of AD-related presenilin-1 (PS-1) alleles have been found to be at higher risk for developing clinical depression. We chose to examine whether PS-1 could influence MAO-A function in vitro. Overexpression of selected AD-related PS-1 variants (wildtype, Y115H, ΔEx9 and M146V) in mouse hippocampal HT-22 cells affects MAO-A catalytic activity in a variant-specific manner. The ability of the PS-1 substrate-competitor DAPT to induce MAO-A activity in cells expressing either PS-1 wildtype or PS-1(M146V) suggests the potential for a direct influence of PS-1 on MAO-A function. In support of this, we were able to co-immunoprecipitate MAO-A with FLAG-tagged PS-1 wildtype and M146V proteins. This potential for a direct protein-protein interaction between PS-1 and MAO-A is not specific for HT-22 cells as we were also able to co-immunoprecipitate MAO-A with FLAG-PS-1 variants in N2a mouse neuroblastoma cells and in HEK293 human embryonic kidney cells. Finally, we demonstrate that the two PS-1 variants reported to be associated with an increased incidence of clinical depression [e.g., A431E and L235V] both induce MAO-A activity in HT-22 cells. A direct influence of PS-1 variants on MAO-A function could provide an explanation for the changes in monoaminergic tone observed in several neurodegenerative processes including AD. The ability to induce MAO-A catalytic activity with a PS-1/γ-secretase inhibitor should also be considered when designing secretase inhibitor-based therapeutics.