After its release into the synaptic cleft, dopamine exerts its biological properties via its pre- and post-synaptic targets(1). The dopamine signal is terminated by diffusion(2-3), extracellular enzymes(4), and membrane transporters(5). The dopamine transporter, located in the peri-synaptic cleft of dopamine neurons clears the released amines through an inward dopamine flux (uptake). The dopami...

Selective blockers of the norepinephrine transporter (NET) inhibit dopamine uptake in the prefrontal cortex. This suggests that dopamine in this region is normally cleared by the somewhat promiscuous NET. We have tested this hypothesis by comparing the effects of inhibitors selective for the three monoamine transporters with those of a nonspecific inhibitor, cocaine, on uptake of 3H-dopamine in...

Research has shown that there are important neurochemical differences between the mesocortical and mesostriatal dopamine systems. The work reported in this paper has sought to compare the regulation of dopamine release in the medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior caudate-putamen. In vivo microdialysis was used to recover dialysate fluid for subsequent assay for dopamine concentrations. The ...

The psychostimulant drug amphetamine increases extracellular monamines in the brain acting on neurotransmitter transporters, especially the dopamine transporter. Mediated by this plasmalemmal pump, amphetamine does not only induce release but also charge transfer which might be involved in the release mechanism. To study a potential link between the two phenomena, we used Zn(2+) as an acute reg...

Despite intensive medication development efforts, no effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine abuse has demonstrated efficacy for long-term use. Given the obvious importance of the dopamine transporter in the addictive properties of cocaine, the development and use of compounds that target the dopamine transporter represents a reasonable approach for the pharmacological treatment of cocaine abuse....

BACKGROUND Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder is a prodromal stage of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Hyposmia, reduced dopamine transporter binding, and expression of the brain metabolic PD-related pattern were each associated with increased risk of conversion to PD. The objective of this study was to study the relationship between the PD-related pattern, dopamine transp...

Rodents learn to associate the rewarding effects of drugs with the environment in which they are encountered and, subsequently, will display a conditioned place preference (CPP) for that environment. Cocaine-induced CPP is generally thought to be mediated through inhibition of the dopamine transporter and the consequent increase in extracellular dopamine. However, here we report that dopamine-d...

Synapses in the central nervous system are usually defined by presynaptic exocytotic release sites and postsynaptic differentiations. We report here a demonstration of dendrodendritic inhibition that does not engage a conventional synapse. Using amperometric and patch-clamp recordings in rat brain slices of the substantia nigra, we found that blockade of the dopamine transporter abolished the d...