Close Correlation of Monoamine Oxidase Activity with Progress of Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice, Observed by in Vivo Two-Photon Imaging

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) play an important role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. We report in vivo comonitoring of MAO activity and amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques dependent on the aging of live mice with AD, using a two-photon fluorescence probe. The probe under the catalytic action of MAO produces a dipolar fluorophore that senses Aβ plaques, a general AD biomarker, enabling us to comonitor the enzyme activity and the progress of AD indicated by Aβ plaques. The results show that the progress of AD has a close correlation with MAO activity, which can be categorized into three stages: slow initiation stage up to three months, an aggressive stage, and a saturation stage from nine months. Histological analysis also reveals elevation of MAO activity around Aβ plaques in aged mice. The close correlation between the MAO activity and AD progress observed by in vivo monitoring for the first time prompts us to investigate the enzyme as a potential biomarker of AD.