Molecular neuroanatomy of MAO-A and MAO-B.

A selective, quantitative and high resolution technique (in vitro and in vivo enzyme radioautography) has been used to reveal the tissue distribution and abundance of MAO-A and MAO-B in the central nervous system and peripheral organs in the rat. The in vitro approach was also used to map the enzymes in human post-mortem brain. Furthermore, using in situ hybridization histochemistry, locus coeruleus and raphé neurons in the human brain were found to code for MAO-A and MAO-B respectively and not vice versa.