What is an antidepressant binding site doing in a bacterial transporter?

Gary Rudnick

doi:10.1021/cb7001818

What is an antidepressant binding site doing in a bacterial transporter?

ACS Chem Biol. 2007 Sep 21;2(9):606-9. doi: 10.1021/cb7001818.

Author

Gary Rudnick¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, USA. gary.rudnick@yale.edu

PMID: 17894444
DOI: 10.1021/cb7001818

Abstract

LeuT is a bacterial amino acid transporter belonging to a large family of membrane proteins, including the neurotransmitter transporters that are targets for antidepressant drugs. The high-resolution structure of LeuT has provided an important model for understanding structure and function in this family. Two recent papers found that LeuT can bind tricyclic antidepressants, raising the possibility that it may also serve as a model for the pharmacological properties of neurotransmitter transporters.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Amino Acid Transport Systems / chemistry*
Amino Acid Transport Systems / metabolism
Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / metabolism*
Bacteria / metabolism
Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
Binding Sites
Humans
Models, Molecular
Plasma Membrane Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / chemistry*
Plasma Membrane Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins / metabolism
Protein Conformation

Substances

Amino Acid Transport Systems
Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic
Bacterial Proteins
Plasma Membrane Neurotransmitter Transport Proteins