Transporters of dopamine

Sulzer, D., Maidment, N.T., and Rayport, S., Amphetamine and other weak bases act to promote reverse transport of dopamine in ventral midbrain neurons, J. Neurochem., 60, 527, 1993. 

Since the enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine (dopamine (3-hydroxylase) is located only within the vesicles, the transport of dopamine into the vesicle is an essential step in the synthesis of norepinephrine. This same transport system is essential for the storage of norepinephrine. There is a tendency for norepinephrine to leak from the vesicles into the cytosol. If norepinephrine remains in the cytosol, much of it will be destroyed by a mitochondrial enzyme, monoamine oxidase MAO). However, most of the norepinephrine that leaks out of the vesicle is rapidly returned to the storage vesicles by the same transport system that carries dopamine into the storage vesicles. It is important for a proper understanding of drug action to remember that this single transport system, called vesicular transport, is an essential element of both synthesis and storage of norepinephrine. 

VMAT Transport of dopamine and norepinephrine into adrenergic vesicles in nerve endings Target of reserpine... 

Chen N, Justice JB (2000) Differential effect of structural modification of human dopamine transporter on the inward and outward transport of dopamine. Mol Brain Res 75 208-215... 

B.V., Transport of dopamine at the blood-brain barrier of the guinea pig Inhibition by psychotropic drugs and nicotine, Pharm. Res., 13(2), 290, 1996. 

Methylphenidate blocks the transport of dopamine, resulting in a dose-dependent decrease in dopamine reuptake by adrenergic neurons. The result is an increase in available dopamine in the cerebral cortex. 

Membranes produced from 3-hexylPT show different permeabilities for drugs [234] the transport of dopamine through membranes of this material is found to depend on the oxidation state of the polymeric sample. In the reduced state membranes are more permeable for dopamine, in the oxidized form a decrease of 40% of permeability is observed because of changes in the polymer film morphology caused by structural changes by the oxidation state. 

The dopamine precursor l-DOPA (levodopa) is commonly used in TH treatment of the symptoms of PD. l-DOPA can be absorbed in the intestinal tract and transported across the blood-brain barrier by the large neutral amino acid (LNAA) transport system, where it taken up by dopaminergic neurons and converted into dopamine by the activity of TH. In PD treatment, peripheral AADC can be blocked by carbidopa or benserazide to increase the amount of l-DOPA reaching the brain. Selective MAO B inhibitors like deprenyl (selegiline) have also been effectively used with l-DOPA therapy to reduce the metabolism of dopamine. Recently, potent and selective nitrocatechol-type COMT inhibitors such as entacapone and tolcapone have been shown to be clinically effective in improving the bioavailability of l-DOPA and potentiating its effectiveness in the treatment of PD. 

Neurotransmitter Transporters. Figure 3 Dopamine turnover at a presynaptic nerve terminal, (a) Dopamine is produced by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). When secretory vesicles are filled, they join the releasable pool of vesicles at the presynaptic membrane. Upon exocytosis, the diffusion of released dopamine is limited by reuptake via DAT. (b) If DAT is inactive, dopamine spreads in the cerebrospinal fluid but cannot accumulate in secretory vesicles. This results in a compensatory increase of dopamine hydroxylase activity and a higher extracellular dopamine level mice with inactive DAT are hyperactive. 

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. 

The various stimulants have no obvious chemical relationships and do not share primary neurochemical effects, despite their similar behavioral effects. Cocaines chemical strucmre does not resemble that of caffeine, nicotine, or amphetamine. Cocaine binds to the dopamine reuptake transporter in the central nervous system, effectively inhibiting dopamine reuptake. It has similar effects on the transporters that mediate norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake. As discussed later in this chapter in the section on neurochemical actions mediating stimulant reward, dopamine is very important in the reward system of the brain the increase of dopamine associated with use of cocaine probably accounts for the high dependence potential of the drug. 

Following the release of dopamine, the primary mode of removal from the synapse is reuptake into the presynaptic neuron via the dopamine transporter (DAT). DAT is dependent upon the energy created by the Na+/K+ pump and is a member of the Na+/Cl -dependent plasma membrane transporter family, as are the norepinephrine and 7-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporters. Imaging studies utilizing compounds with highly specific affinity for DAT... 

Figure 1.1 The dopamine transporter terminates the action of released dopamine by transport back into the presynaptic neuron. Dopamine transport occurs with the binding of one molecule of dopamine, one chloride ion, and two sodium ions to the transporter the transporter then translocates from the outside of the neuronal membrane into the inside of the neuron.22 Cocaine appears to bind to the sodium ion binding site. This changes the conformation of the chloride ion binding site thus dopamine transport does not occur. This blockade of dopamine transport potentiates dopaminergic neurotransmission and may be the basis for the rewarding effects of cocaine.

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. 

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