PUBLICATION

An indicator of cancer: downregulation of Monoamine Oxidase-A in multiple organs and species

Authors
Rybaczyk, L.A., Bashaw, M.J., Pathak, D.R., and Huang, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-080331-4
Date
2008
Source
BMC Genomics   9: 134 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Down-Regulation*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Monoamine Oxidase/genetics*
  • Monoamine Oxidase/metabolism
  • Neoplasms/enzymology*
  • Neoplasms/genetics*
  • Organ Specificity
  • Rats
  • Serotonin/metabolism
  • Species Specificity
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
18366702 Full text @ BMC Genomics
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Identifying consistent changes in cellular function that occur in multiple types of cancer could revolutionize the way cancer is treated. Previous work has produced promising results such as the identification of p53. Recently drugs that affect serotonin reuptake were shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer in man. Here, we analyze an ensemble of cancer datasets focusing on genes involved in the serotonergic pathway. Genechip datasets consisting of cancerous tissue from human, mouse, rat, or zebrafish were extracted from the GEO database. We first compared gene expression between cancerous tissues and normal tissues for each type of cancer and then identified changes that were common to a variety of cancer types. Results: Our analysis found that significant downregulation of MAO-A, the enzyme that metabolizes serotonin, occurred in multiple tissues from humans, rodents, and fish. MAO-A expression was decreased in 95.4% of human cancer patients and 94.2% of animal cancer cases compared to the non-cancerous controls. Conclusion: These are the first findings that identify a single reliable change in so many different cancers. Future studies should investigate links between MAO-A suppression and the development of cancer to determine the extent that MAO-A suppression contributes to increased cancer risk.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping