Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Neuroscience
Publication Date
1997
Volume
17
Issue
3
Disciplines
Medical Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Abstract
Electrophysiological and pharmacological studies of a cloned human dopamine transporter (hDAT) were undertaken to investigate the mechanisms of transporter function and the actions of drugs at this target. Using two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques with hDAT-expressing Xenopus laevis oocytes, we show that hDAT can be considered electrogenic by two criteria. (1) Uptake of hDAT substrates gives rise to a pharmacologically appropriate “transport-associated” current. (2) The velocity of DA uptake measured in oocytes clamped at various membrane potentials was voltage-dependent, increasing with hyperpolarization. Concurrent measurement of transport-associated current and substrate flux in individual oocytes revealed that charge movement during substrate translocation was greater than would be expected for a transport mechanism with fixed stoichiometry of 2 Na+ and 1 Cl− per DA+ molecule. In addition to the transport-associated current, hDAT also mediates a constitutive leak current, the voltage and ionic dependencies of which differ markedly from those of the transport-associated current. Ion substitution experiments suggest that alkali cations and protons are carried by the hDAT leak conductance. In contrast to the transport-associated functions, the leak does not require Na+ or Cl−, and DAT ligands readily interact with the transporter even in the absence of these ions. The currents that hDAT mediates provide a functional assay that readily distinguishes the modes of action of amphetamine-like “DA-releasing” drugs from cocaine-like translocation blockers. In addition, the voltage dependence of DA uptake suggests a mechanism through which presynaptic DA autoreceptor activation may accelerate the termination of dopaminergic neurotransmission in vivo.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-03-00960.1997
Rights
© 1997 Society for Neuroscience
Recommended Citation
Sonders, Mark S.; Zhu, Si-Jia; Zahniser, Nancy R.; Kavanaugh, Michael; and Amara, Susan G., "Multiple Ionic Conductances of the Human Dopamine Transporter: The Actions of Dopamine and Psychostimulants" (1997). Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications. 56.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/biopharm_pubs/56