Regulation of Dopamine Transporter Surface Expression

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a plasma membrane protein expressed in dopamine (DA) neurons of the central nervous system and is critical for regulating DA neurotransmission. The DAT is responsible for the reuptake of released DA back into the presynaptic neuron, resulting in the termination of DA transmission. This process also recycles the DA back into the dopaminergic neuron for subsequent release. DAT is the target of psychostimulants including cocaine and amphetamines and has been associated with several neuropsychiatric disorders. Only DAT proteins located on the plasma membrane can remove DA from the extracellular space, and the number of DAT proteins on the cell-surface therefore determines the efficiency of DA clearance. As a result, regulating DAT surface expression is a critical means to regulating the magnitude and duration of DA neurotransmission. This chapter will discuss the different processes and proteins that have been shown to affect DAT surface expression and discuss the relevance to normal DA physiology and diseases that involve aberrant DA signaling.