Dopamine transporter characteristics

Gudehithlu, K.R and Bhargava, H.N., Modification of characteristics of dopamine transporter in brain regions and spinal cord of morphine tolerant and abstinent rats, Neuropharmacology, 35, 169, 1996. 

Hitri A, Hurd YL, Wyatt RJ, Deutsch SI (1994a) Molecular, functional and biochemical characteristics of the dopamine transporter regional differences and clinical relevance. Clin. Neuropharmacol 77 1-22. 

Horn, A.S., Characteristics of transport in dopamine neurons, in The Mechanism of Neuronal and Extraneuronal Transport of Catecholamines, Paton, D.M., Ed., Raven Press, New York, 195, 1976. 

The dynamics of the release and uptake of dopamine into brain extracellular space are currently under intense investigation[20-22]. Dopamine is a well-known extrasynaptic messenger that functions via volume transmission, escaping from the synaptic cleft to bind to extrasynaptic receptors and transporters. High sensitivity, chemical selectivity, and fast temporal resolution are all desirable characteristics in detecting neurotransmitters in vivo. In practice, it is difficult to achieve all of these with one method. 

After five days, dopamine, L-tryptophan, and l-DOPA passively permeated through the membrane as indicated by fittings with a first-order kinetic process equation. After seven days of co-culture, occludin localizes at EC periphery, dopamine does not cross the barrier to any further extent, while the transfer of L-tryptophan and l-DOPA fits well with a saturable Michaelis-Menten kinetic process, thus indicating the involvement of a specific carrier-mediated transport mechanism. Permeation studies confirmed that culture of ECs in the presence of neurons induces the characteristic permeability limitations of a functional BBB. 

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