Neurotransmitter transporter

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Neurotransmitter transporters are a class of

neurotransmitters across these membranes and to direct their further transport to specific intracellular locations. There are more than twenty types of neurotransmitter transporters.[1]

Vesicular transporters move neurotransmitters into

proton gradient created by the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in order to carry out their work: v-ATPase hydrolyzes ATP, causing protons to be pumped into the synaptic vesicles and creating a proton gradient. Then the efflux of protons from the vesicle provides the energy to bring the neurotransmitter into the vesicle.[3]

Neurotransmitter transporters frequently use

glutamate across membranes. Such neurotransporter cotransport systems are highly diverse, as recent development indicates that uptake systems are generally selective and associate with a specific neurotransmitter.[4]

Normally, transporters in the synaptic membrane serve to remove neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft and prevent their action or bring it to an end. However, on occasion transporters can work in reverse, transporting neurotransmitters into the synapse, allowing these neurotransmitters to bind to their receptors and exert their effect. This "nonvesicular release" of neurotransmitters is used by some cells, such as amacrine cells in the retina, as a normal form of neurotransmitter release.[5]

Types

An illustrated chemical synapse
Voltage-
gated Ca++
channel
Neurotransmitter
transporter
Synaptic cleft
Structure of a typical chemical synapse

Specific types of neurotransmitter transporters include the following:

Note that there is no plasmalemmal acetylcholine transporter, as acetylcholine is terminated via rapid metabolism into choline by cholinesterase enzymes, and choline is subsequently transported back into the cell and reconverted into acetylcholine.

Transporters associated with

endocannabinoids
have not yet been identified.

Clinical significance

A variety of neurotransmitter reuptake transporters are pharmacotherapeutic targets for modulating the synaptic neurotransmitter concentration, and therefore neurotransmission.

Neurotransmitter transporters inhibitors

Vesicular transporters could provide an alternative therapeutic target for the modulation of chemical neurotransmission, as the activity of these transporters could affect the quantity of neurotransmitter released.[7]

References

  1. PMID 10889545
    .
  2. PMID 12533612
    .
  3. ISBN 0-8385-7701-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. PMID 8096377
    .
  5. ISBN 0-8385-7701-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  6. PMID 8622973
    .
  7. S2CID 26111849
    .
  8. PMID 1487110
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neurotransmitter transporters.
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