In monoaminergic neurons, the vesicular transporters and the plasma membrane transporters operate in a relay. Amphetamine and its congeners target this relay to elicit their actions: most amphetamines are substrates, which pervert the relay to elicit efflux of monoamines into the synaptic cleft. However, some amphetamines act as transporter inhibitors. Both compound classes elicit profound psychostimulant effects, which render them liable to recreational abuse. Currently, a surge of new psychoactive substances occurs on a global scale. Chemists bypass drug bans by ingenuous structural variations, resulting in a rich pharmacology. A credible transport model must account for their distinct mode of action and link this to subtle differences in activity and undesired, potentially deleterious effects.

Hormones, neurotransmitters, and autacoids interact with specific receptors and thereby trigger a series of molecular events that ultimately produce their biological effects. These receptors, localized in the plasma membrane, carry binding sites for ligands as diverse as peptides (e.g., glucagon, neuropeptides), lipids (e.g., prostaglandins), nucleosides and nucleotides (e.g., adenosine), and amines (e.g., catecholamines, serotonin). These receptors do not interest directly with their respective downstream effector (i.e., an ion channel and/or an enzyme that synthesizes a second messenger); rather, they control one or several target systems via the activation of an intermediary guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein or G protein. G proteins serve as signal transducers, linking extracellularly oriented receptors to membrane-bound effectors. Traffic in these pathways is regulated by a GTP (on)-GDP (off) switch, which is regulated by the receptor. The combination of classical biochemistry and recombinant DNA technology has resulted in the discovery of many members of the G protein family. These approaches, complemented in particular by electrophysiological experiments, have also identified several effectors that are regulated by G proteins. We can safely assume that current lists of G proteins and the functions that they control are incomplete.

Background: hSERT is a neurotransmitter transporter driven by ion gradients with electroneutral stoichiometry but rheogenic properties.Results: hSERT displays coupled and uncoupled currents. The uncoupled current depends on internal K+.Conclusion: The conducting state of hSERT is in equilibrium with an inward facing K+-bound state.Significance: This study provides a framework for exploring transporter-associated currents.

Glutamatergic neurotransmission is controlled by presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). A subdomain in the intracellular carboxyl-terminal tail of group III mGluRs binds calmodulin and heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate-binding protein (G protein) betagamma subunits in a mutually exclusive manner. Mutations interfering with calmodulin binding and calmodulin antagonists inhibit G protein-mediated modulation of ionic currents by mGluR 7. Calmodulin antagonists also prevent inhibition of excitatory neurotransmission via presynaptic mGluRs. These results reveal a novel mechanism of presynaptic modulation in which Ca(2+)-calmodulin is required to release G protein betagamma subunits from the C-tail of group III mGluRs in order to mediate glutamatergic autoinhibition.

SummaryIn contrast to its close homolog CDK4, the cell cycle kinase CDK6 is expressed at high levels in lymphoid malignancies. In a model for p185BCR-ABL+ B-acute lymphoid leukemia, we show that CDK6 is part of a transcription complex that induces the expression of the tumor suppressor p16INK4a and the pro-angiogenic factor VEGF-A. This function is independent of CDK6’s kinase activity. High CDK6 expression thus suppresses proliferation by upregulating p16INK4a, providing an internal safeguard. However, in the absence of p16INK4a, CDK6 can exert its full tumor-promoting function by enhancing proliferation and stimulating angiogenesis. The finding that CDK6 connects cell-cycle progression to angiogenesis confirms CDK6’s central role in hematopoietic malignancies and could underlie the selection pressure to upregulate CDK6 and silence p16INK4a.