Are neurotransmitter carriers cell-specific markers?

Synaptosomes still viable after 25 years of superfusion

Superfused synaptosomes have been utilized in studies of neurotransmitter release during 25 years. This review summarizes the aspects of neurotransmission that have been and could be successfully investigated with this technique. The major aim of the article is to draw attention on the versatility of superfused synaptosomes and to suggest how the system could be exploited in clarifying several aspects of synaptic neurochemistry including neurotransmitter transport, receptor localization, receptor-receptor interactions, functional aspects of multi-sited receptor complexes, receptor heterogeneity and mechanisms of neurotransmitter exocytosis-endocytosis.

Carrier-mediated release of neurotransmitters

There is growing evidence that neurotransmitters can be released not only by exocytosis but also through the membrane carriers responsible for transmitter reuptake. Giulio Levi and Maurizio Raiteri review the in vitro and in vivo evidence supporting the existence of a carrier-mediated release for different classes of transmitters. While the physiological significance of carrier-mediated release remains speculative, widely used drugs such as sympathomimetic amines, the anorectic drug fenfluramine and some drugs of abuse act in part by stimulating monoamine carrier-mediated release. Moreover, antidepressants known to inhibit monoamine reuptake, can block carrier-mediated release. This mechanism may also come into play in pathological conditions such as ischaemia.