Reuptake - Mechanism of Action

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 NSS neurotransmitter 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.