Monoamine transporter

Together with dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline belong to the endogenous catecholamines that are synthesized from the precursor amino acid tyrosine (Fig. 1). In the first biosynthetic step, tyrosine hydroxylase generates l-DOPA which is further converted to dopamine by the aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase ( Dopa decarboxylase). Dopamine is transported from the cytosol into synaptic vesicles by a vesicular monoamine transporter. In sympathetic nerves, vesicular dopamine (3-hydroxylase generates the neurotransmitter noradrenaline. In chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla, approximately 80% of the noradrenaline is further converted into adrenaline by the enzyme phenylethanolamine-A-methyltransferase. 

Substrate specificity is determined by high affinity for the cognate neurotransmitter substrate. However, low affinity uptake does also have a part in the clearance of transmitters from the interstitial space (e.g., in uptake mediated by the extraneuronal monoamine transporter, EMT) and in the intestinal absoiption of glycine and glutamate. It is obvious that there is an evolutionary relation of neurotransmitter transporters and amino acid and cation transporters in epithelia. 

The transporters for 5HT, noradrenaline and dopamine, biogenic monoamines, are genetically related, exist as single isoforms and are expressed on the surface of nerve cells, which use monoamines as (or convert them into) their cognate neurotransmitter. The single-isoform monoamine transporters fulfil all three fundamental functions (reuptake, limiting synaptic transmission, and control of the extracellular neurotransmitter concentration). Inactivation of DAT, NET, or SERT results in an increased extracellular lifetime and level of monoamine neurotransmitter, but decreased intracellular storage and evoked release (Fig. 3). 

Neurotransmitter transport can be electrogenic if it results in the net translocation of electrical charge (e.g. if more cations than anions are transferred into the cell interior). Moreover, some transporters may direction-ally conduct ions in a manner akin to ligand-gated ion channels this ion flux is not coupled to substrate transport and requires a separate permeation pathway associated with the transporter molecule. In the case of the monoamine transporters (DAT, NET, SERT) the sodium current triggered by amphetamine, a monoamine and psychostimulant (see Fig. 4) is considered responsible for a high internal sodium concentration... 

Torres GE, Amara SG (2007) Glutamate and monoamine transporters new visions of form and function Curr Opin Neurobiol 17 304-312... 

Non-neuronal monoamine transporters is the collective designation for OCT1, OCT2, and EMT the term indicates that these three carriers share some substrates with the neuronal monoamine transporters (such as DAT, NET, SERT) and the vesicular monoamine... 

The pharmacology of amphetamine is considerably more complex. It does not only block monoamine reuptake, but also directly inhibits the vesicular monoamine transporter, causing an increase in cytosolic but not vesicular dopamine concentration. This may lead to reverse transport of the amines via the membrane-bound transporters. Further mechanisms of amphetamine action are direct MAO inhibition and indirect release of both dopamine and serotonin in the striatum. 

The vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) were identified in a screen for genes that confer resistance to the parkinsonian neurotoxin MPP+ [2]. The resistance apparently results from sequestration of the toxin inside vesicles, away from its primary site of action in mitochondria. In addition to recognizing MPP+, the transporter s mediate the uptake of dopamine, ser otonin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine by neurons and endocrine cells. Structurally, the VMATs show no relationship to plasma membrane monoamine transporters. 

VMATs are not inhibited by drugs such as cocaine, tricyclic antidqnessants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that affect plasma membrane monoamine transport. Amphetamines have relatively selective effects on monoaminergic cells due to selective uptake by plasma membrane monoamine transporters, but their effect appears to be mediated by their ability as weak bases to reduce ApH, the driving force for vesicular monoamine transport that leads to efflux of the vesicular contents into the cytoplasm. 

VMAT is short for Vesicular Monoamine Transporter. Vesicular Transporters... 

Figure 8.6 Schematic diagram of the proposed structure of the vesicular monoamine transporter. There are 12 transmembrane segments with both the N- and C-termini projecting towards the neuronal cytosol. (Based on Schuldiner 1998)...

In other respects the storage of 5-HT resembles that of noradrenaline with its uptake by vesicles resting on energy-dependent, vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) (see Chapter 8). Functional disruption of this transporter, either through competitive inhibition (e.g. by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy )) or dissipation... 

Iproniazid also prevents the reserpine syndrome in rats. Reserpine blocks vesicular uptake of monoamines which, as a consequence, leak from the storage vesicles into the cytosol. Although these monoamines would normally be metabolised by MAO, they are conserved when a MAO inhibitor (MAOI) is present, and so co-administration of reserpine and a MAOI leads to accumulation of monoamines in the neuronal cytosol. It is now known that, when the concentration of cytoplasmic monoamines is increased in this way, they are exported to the synapse on membrane-bound monoamine transporters. The ensuing increase in monoamine transmission, despite the depletion of the vesicular pool, presumably accounts for the effects of iproniazid on the behaviour of reserpine-pretreated rats. 

The main problems with early, irreversible MAOIs were adverse interactions with other drugs (notably sympathomimetics, such as ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and tricyclic antidepressants) and the infamous "cheese reaction". The cheese reaction is a consequence of accumulation of the dietary and trace amine, tyramine, in noradrenergic neurons when MAO is inhibited. Tyramine, which is found in cheese and certain other foods (particularly fermented food products and dried meats), is normally metabolised by MAO in the gut wall and liver and so little ever reaches the systemic circulation. MAOIs, by inactivating this enzymic shield, enable tyramine to reach the bloodstream and eventually to be taken up by the monoamine transporters on serotonergic and noradrenergic neurons. Fike amphetamine, tyramine reduces the pH gradient across the vesicle membrane which, in turn, causes the vesicular transporter to fail. Transmitter that leaks out of the vesicles into the neuronal cytosol cannot be metabolised because... 

The affinity (Kj values) observed for [ H]MDA and [ HJMDMA binding were similar to the effective doses (i.e., ED50 or K] values) of MDA and MDMA reported for various pre- and postsynaptic monoamine markers, such as serotonin and dopamine release (Johnson et al. 1986), monoamine transport (Steele et al. 1987), and multiple brain, ligand binding sites (Battaglia et al. 1988). 

Kim, H., Lim, S. W.et al. (2006). Monoamine transporter gene polymorphisms and antidepressant response in Koreans with late-life depression. JAMA, 296(13), 1609-18. 

There are two distinct pools of HA in the brain (1) the neuronal pool and (2) the non-neuronal pool, mainly contributed by the mast cells. The turnover of HA in mast cells is slower than in neurons it is believed that the HA contribution from the mast cells is limited and that almost all brain histaminergic actions are the result of HA released by neurons (Haas Panula, 2003). The blood-brain barrier is impermeable to HA. HA in the brain is formed from L-histidine, an essential amino acid. HA synthesis occurs in two steps (1) neuronal uptake of L-histidine by L-amino acid transporters and (2) subsequent decarboxylation of l-histidine by a specific enzyme, L-histidine decarboxylase (E.C. 4.1.1.22). It appears that the availability of L-histidine is the rate-limiting step for the synthesis of HA. The enzyme HDC is selective for L-histidine and its activity displays circadian fluctuations (Orr Quay, 1975). HA synthesis can be reduced by inhibition of the enzyme HDC. a-Fluoromethylhistidine (a-FMH) is an irreversible and a highly selective inhibitor of HDC a single systemic injection of a-FMH (10-50 mg/kg) can produce up to 90% inhibition of HDC activity within 60-120 min (Monti, 1993). Once synthesized, HA is taken up into vesicles by the vesicular monoamine transporter and is stored until released. 

Figure 6.1 Histamine synthesis and metabolism in neurons. L-histidine is transported into neurons by the L-amino acid transporter. Once inside the neuron, L-histidine is converted into histamine by the specific enzyme histidine decarboxylase. Subsequently, histamine is taken up into vesicles by the vesicular monoamine transporter and stored there until released. In the absence of a high-affinity uptake mechanism in the brain, released histamine is rapidly degraded by histamine methyltransferase, which is located postsynaptically and in glia, to telemethylhistamine, a metabolite that does not show any histamine-like activity.

Once returned to the presynaptic terminal, dopamine is repackaged into synaptic vesicles via the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) or metabolized to dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) by monoamine oxidase (MAO). Two alternative pathways are available for dopamine catabolism in the synapse, depending on whether the first step is catalyzed by MAO or catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Thus, dopamine can be either deaminated to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) or methylated to 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT). In turn, deamination of 3-MT and methylation of DOPAC leads to homovanillic acid (HVA). In humans, cerebrospinal fluid levels of HVA have been used as a proxy for levels of dopaminergic activity within the brain (Stanley et al. 1985). 

Pill, C., Drobny, H., Reither, H., Homykiewicz, O., and Singer, E.A., Mechanism of the dopaminereleasing actions of amphetamine and cocaine plasmalemmal dopamine transporter versus vesicular monoamine transporter, Mol. Pharmacol., 47, 368, 1995. 

Schwartz, K., Weizman, A., Rehavi, M. Decreased platelet vesicular monoamine transporter density in habitual smokers. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 15 235, 2005. 

Eyerman, D.J., Yamamoto, B.K. Lobeline attenuates methamphetamine-induced changes in vesicular monoamine transporter 2 immunoreactivity and monoamine depletions in the striatum. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 312 160, 2005. 

Fleckenstein, A.E., Hanson, G.R. Impact of psychostimulants on vesicular monoamine transporter function. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 479 283, 2003. 

Czoty, P.W., Ramanathan, C.R., Mutschler, N.H., Makriyannis, A., Bergman, J. Drug discrimination in methamphetamine-trained monkeys effects of monoamine transporter inhibitors. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 311 720, 2004. 

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