Monoamine transporter

Introduction

There are several different monoamine transporters.

The dopamine transporter, DAT.
The norepinephrine transporter, NET.
The serotonin transporter, SERT.

DAT, NET and SERT are related to each other and they all consist of a structure of 12 transmembrane helices.

Drug action

Many drugs, such as antidepressants and psychoactives works on monoamine transporters.

Many antidepressants work by enhancing serotonergic or noradrenergic neurotransmission by binding to SERT or NET, and thereby inhibit reuptake of serotonin and/or norepinephrine. fluoxetine is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor and works as a SERT antagonist. reboxetine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and works as a NET antagonist.

Most psychoactive drugs get part of their effect by interacting with monoamine transporters. The addictive properties of Amphetamine and cocaine comes from these drugs ability to regulate DAT transporter activity.