Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase substrates fail to induce insulin-like effects in fat cells from AOC3 knockout mice

Substrates of semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidases (SSAO) stimulate glucose transport in adipocytes. To definitively demonstrate the involvement of SSAO in this insulin-like effect, glucose transport has been studied in fat cells from mice with a targeted deletion of AOC3, a gene encoding a SSAO called vascular adhesion protein-1. SSAO activity was present in white adipose tissues of wild type (WT) but was absent in AOC3KO mice. The SSAO-substrates benzylamine and methylamine were unable to stimulate hexose transport in adipocytes isolated from AOC3KO mice while they were active in WT adipocytes, especially in combination with vanadate. Impairment of amine-dependent glucose uptake was also observed with tyramine while there was no change in insulin responsiveness. These observations prove that the effects of exogenous or biogenic amines on glucose transport are not receptor-mediated but are oxidation-dependent. They also confirm that the major SSAO form expressed in mouse adipocytes is encoded by the AOC3 gene.