title: Regulation of dopamine transporter expression by neuronal activity.
abstract: Actions of extracellular dopamine released in the central nervous system are primarily terminated by the dopamine transporter. This protein is also a target for therapeutic and abused psychostimulant drugs. Different methods used to study dopamine transporter function, its expression, and intracellular signaling in neurons are described in this chapter. Function of the dopamine transporter in mesencephalic primary cultures can be measured by dopamine uptake assay. Expression of the transporter protein and mRNA are analyzed by western blots and quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Finally, methods to study neuronal activity-dependent changes in Ca(2+)⁄calmodulin-dependent protein (CaM) kinase activity in dopamine neurons are described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Padmanabhan
authors.forename: Thach
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: Balakrishna M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Prasad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2