4-Dimethylaminophenethylamine, a sensitive, specific, electrochemically detectable monoamine oxidase-B substrate.

4-Dimethylaminophenethylamine (DMAPEA) was characterized as an MAO substrate. This compound was unaffected by MAO-A, while its oxidation by MAO-B was linear as a function of both time and enzyme concentration, with Km = 5.8 microM and Vmax = 21.2 pmol/min/mg protein, using a crude rat brain mitochondrial suspension as source of MAO. Both DMAPEA and its oxidation product, 4-dimethylaminophenylacetic acid (DMAPAA), can be detected electrochemically at 0.85 V. The high MAO-B affinity and selectivity of DMAPEA, together with its low oxidation potential, make this molecule a unique tool to determine MAO-B activity in a wide variety of tissue preparations using HPLC-ED.