title: Dopamine transporter: basic aspects and neuroimaging.
abstract: The plasma membrane dopamine transporter (DAT) is found exclusively in dopamine neurones and seems to be the defining molecule of the dopamine neurone. It provides effective control over the intensity of dopamine-mediated signalling by recapturing the neurotransmitter released by presynaptic neurones. Positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) represent unique techniques for assessing in vivo DAT distribution in humans and offer reliable methods for studying nigrostriatal dopaminergic function in health and disease. The characteristics of different DAT radiotracers, the modifying influences of factors such as age, gender, smoking habit, and dopaminergic drugs on DAT transporters as well as their implication in evaluation of neuroimaging studies are discussed.
authors.affiliation: MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, and Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom. paola.piccini@csc.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Paola P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Piccini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013667:Technetium; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; D013667:Technetium