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PMID: 9870940 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

The cat-1 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a vesicular monoamine transporter required for specific monoamine-dependent behaviors.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience ·Vol. 19 ·No. 1 ·1999-01-01 ·Pages 72-84

Duerr JS, Frisby DL, Gaskin J, Duke A, Asermely K, Huddleston D, Eiden LE, Rand JB

Abstract

We have identified the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of the mammalian vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs); it is 47% identical to human VMAT1 and 49% identical to human VMAT2. C. elegans VMAT is associated with synaptic vesicles in approximately 25 neurons, including all of the cells reported to contain dopamine and serotonin, plus a few others. When C. elegans VMAT is expressed in mammalian cells, it has serotonin and dopamine transport activity; norepinephrine, tyramine, octopamine, and histamine also have high affinity for the transporter. The pharmacological profile of C. elegans VMAT is closer to mammalian VMAT2 than VMAT1. The C. elegans VMAT gene is cat-1; cat-1 knock-outs are totally deficient for VMAT immunostaining and for dopamine-mediated sensory behaviors, yet they are viable and grow relatively well. The cat-1 mutant phenotypes can be rescued by C. elegans VMAT constructs and also (at least partially) by human VMAT1 or VMAT2 transgenes. It therefore appears that the function of amine neurotransmitters can be completely dependent on their loading into synaptic vesicles.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Biogenic Monoamines/physiology Biological Transport/physiology Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics Dopamine/analysis Genes, Helminth Genetic Code Humans Membrane Glycoproteins/deficiency,genetics Membrane Transport Proteins Molecular Sequence Data Mutation Neurons/chemistry Neuropeptides Phenotype Sequence Homology, Amino Acid Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism Vesicular Biogenic Amine Transport Proteins Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins
Chemicals
Biogenic Monoamines Membrane Glycoproteins Membrane Transport Proteins Neuropeptides SLC18A1 protein, human SLC18A2 protein, human Vesicular Biogenic Amine Transport Proteins Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins Dopamine
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Duerr J S
Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA.
Frisby D L
Gaskin J
Duke A
Asermely K
Huddleston D
Eiden L E
Rand J B
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Abbr.
J Neurosci
ISSN
0270-6474
Published
1999-01-01
Pages
72-84
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8102140
PMCID
PMC6782383
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM038679 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM38679 · United States
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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