Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Brain Slice Biotinylation: An Ex Vivo Approach to Measure Region-specific Plasma Membrane Protein Trafficking in Adult Neurons
Published on: April 3, 2014
Trafficking of vesicular neurotransmitter transporters
Hao Fei1, Anna Grygoruk, Elizabeth S Brooks
1Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Gonda Goldschmied Neuroscience and Genetics Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1761, USA.
Abstract:
Vesicular neurotransmitter transporters are required for the storage of all classical and amino acid neurotransmitters in secretory vesicles. Transporter expression can influence neurotransmitter storage and release, and trafficking targets the transporters to different types of secretory vesicles. Vesicular transporters traffic to synaptic vesicles (SVs) as well as large dense core vesicles and are recycled to SVs at the nerve terminal. Some of the intrinsic signals for these trafficking events have been defined and include a dileucine motif present in multiple transporter subtypes, an acidic cluster in the neural isoform of the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) 2 and a polyproline motif in the vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) 1. The sorting of VMAT2 and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter to secretory vesicles is regulated by phosphorylation. In addition, VGLUT1 uses alternative endocytic pathways for recycling back to SVs following exocytosis. Regulation of these sorting events has the potential to influence synaptic transmission and behavior.
Related Concept Videos
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Vesicular Trasport: Endocytosis, Transcytosis and Exocytosis
Endocytosis is a cellular mechanism that involves the inward folding of the cell membrane to create vesicles that capture and transport large drug molecules. This process comprises two distinct methods: pinocytosis (often referred to as "cell drinking") and phagocytosis (often referred to as "cell eating"). Pinocytosis is...
Vesicular Tubular Clusters
With the help of motor proteins such...
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
Overview of Secretory Vesicles
Various proteins regulate the aggregation of molecules inside the secretory vesicles. Chromogranins...
Transport Across the Golgi

