Pharmacology of neurotransmitter transport into secretory vesicles

Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2008:(184):77-106. doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-74805-2_4.

Abstract

Many neuropsychiatric disorders appear to involve a disturbance of chemical neurotransmission, and the mechanism of available therapeutic agents supports this impression. Postsynaptic receptors have received considerable attention as drug targets, but some of the most successful agents influence presynaptic processes, in particular neurotransmitter reuptake. The pharmacological potential of many other presynaptic elements, and in particular the machinery responsible for loading transmitter into vesicles, has received only limited attention. The similarity of vesicular transporters to bacterial drug resistance proteins and the increasing evidence for regulation of vesicle filling and recycling suggest that the pharmacological potential of vesicular transporters has been underestimated. In this review, we discuss the pharmacological effects of psychostimulants and therapeutic agents on transmitter release.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chloride Channels / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Ionophores / metabolism
  • Neurotransmitter Agents / metabolism
  • Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / drug effects*
  • Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Secretory Vesicles / drug effects*
  • Secretory Vesicles / metabolism*
  • Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases / metabolism
  • Vesicular Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Vesicular Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Vesicular Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / physiology

Substances

  • Chloride Channels
  • Ionophores
  • Neurotransmitter Agents
  • Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins
  • Vesicular Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins
  • Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases