Reuptake is the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by a neurotransmitter transporter located along the plasma membrane of an axon terminal (i.e., the pre-synaptic neuron at a synapse) or glial cell after it has performed its function of transmitting a neural impulse. Reuptake is necessary for normal synaptic physiology because it allows for the recycling of neurotransmitters and regulates the level of neurotransmitter present in the synapse, thereby controlling how long a signal resulting from neurotransmitter release lasts. Because neurotransmitters are too large and hydrophilic to diffuse through the membrane, specific transport proteins are necessary for the reabsorption of neurotransmitters. Much research, both biochemical and structural, has been performed to obtain clues about the mechanism of reuptake.
Protein structure The first primary sequence of a reuptake protein was published in 1990. The technique for protein sequence determination relied upon the purification, sequencing, and cloning of the transporter protein in question, or expression cloning strategies in which transport function was used as an assay for cDNA species coding for that transporter. After separation, it was realized that there were many similarities between the two DNA sequences. Further exploration in the field of reuptake proteins found that many of the transporters associated with important neurotransmitters within the body were also very similar in sequence to the GABA and norepinephrine transporters. The members of this new family include transporters for dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glycine, proline and GABA. They were called Na+/Cl− dependent neurotransmitter transporters. Sodium and chloride ion dependence will be discussed later in the mechanism of action. Using the commonalities among sequences and hydropathy plot analyses, it was predicted that there are 12 hydrophobic membrane spanning regions in the 'Classical' transporter family. In addition to this, the N- and C-termini exist in the intracellular space. These proteins also all have an extended extracellular loop between the third and fourth transmembrane sequences. Site-directed chemical labeling experiments verified the predicted topological organization of the serotonin transporter. In addition to neurotransmitter transporters, many other proteins in both animals and prokaryotes were found with similar sequences, indicating a larger family of Neurotransmitter: Sodium Symporters (NSS). One of these proteins, LeuT, from Aquifex aeolicus, was crystallized by Yamashita et al. with very high resolution, revealing a molecule of leucine and two Na+ ions bound near the center of the protein. They found that the transmembrane (TM) helices 1 and 6 contained unwound segments in the middle of the membrane. Along with these two helices, TM helices 3 and 8 and the areas surrounding the unwound sections of 1 and 6 formed the substrate and sodium ion binding sites. The crystal structure revealed pseudo-symmetry in LeuT, in which the structure of TM helices 1-5 is reflected in the structure of helices 6–10. There is an extracellular cavity in the protein, into which protrudes a helical hairpin formed by extracellular loop EL4. In TM1, an aspartate distinguishes monoamine NSS transporters from amino acid transporters which contain a glycine at the same position. External and internal "gates" were assigned to pairs of negatively and positively charged residues in the extracellular cavity and near the cytoplasmic ends of TM helices 1 and 8.
Mechanism of action The classic transporter proteins use transmembrane ion gradients and electrical potential to transport neurotransmitter across the membrane of the presynaptic neuron. Typical neurotransmitter sodium symport (NSS) transporters, which are Na+ and Cl− ion dependent, take advantage of both Na+ and Cl− gradients, inwardly directed across the membrane. The ions flow down their concentration gradients, in many cases leading to transmembrane charge movement that is enhanced by the membrane potential. These forces pull the neurotransmitter substrate into the cell, even against its own concentration gradient. At a molecular level, Na+ ions stabilize amino acid binding at the substrate site and also hold the transporter in an outward-open conformation that allows substrate binding. The role of the Cl− ion in the symport mechanism has been proposed to be for stabilizing the charge of the symported Na+. After ion and substrate binding have taken place, some conformational change must occur. From the conformational differences between the structure of TMs 1-5 and that of TMs 6–10, and from the identification of a substrate permeation pathway between the binding site of SERT and the cytoplasm, a mechanism for conformational change was proposed in which a four-helix bundle composed of TMs 1, 2, 6 and 7 changes its orientation within the rest of the protein. A structure of LeuT in the inward-open conformation subsequently demonstrated that the major component of the conformational change represents movement of the bundle relative to the rest of the protein.
Mechanism of reuptake inhibition The main objective of a reuptake inhibitor is to substantially decrease the rate by which neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron, increasing the concentration of neurotransmitter in the synapse. This increases neurotransmitter binding to pre- and postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptors. Depending on the neuronal system in question, a reuptake inhibitor can have drastic effects on cognition and behavior. Non-competitive inhibition of the bacterial homologue LeuT by tricyclic antidepressants resulted from binding of these inhibitors in the extracellular permeation pathway. However, the competitive nature of serotonin transport inhibition by antidepressants suggests that in neurotransmitter transporters, they bind in a site overlapping the substrate site.
Human systems
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