In article <69mcju$6e6$1 at peuplier.wanadoo.fr>, <Patricia.Morel at wanadoo.fr>
wrote:
> Does anyone know something about dopamine transporter and effects of free
> radicals on its function ?
What kinds of free radicals? Free radicals should nonselectively attack
proteins, etc... Are you thinking about dopamine and free radical
damage? So far, this has been demonstrated to occur when dopamine is
taken up into the cytoplasm of the nerve terminal... and can induced
apoptosis. A couple of recent studies demonstrated that expression of the
gene for dopamine transporter, when blocked by antisense messengers,
protected cells from undergoing dopamine-induced apoptosis. Cells not
expressing dopamine transporter could still become apoptotic after
microinjection of neuromelanin, which is a dopamine by-product allegedly
from DOPAC. So, it looks like dopamine has to be inside the cell to cause
damage. I've often wondered about the free radical/dopamine hypothesis
since molecules in the intracellular environment should be in a reduced
state (?!).
M.L. Kirby