A key issue in signal transduction is how signaling pathways common to many systems—so-called canonical signaling cassettes—integrate signals from molecules having a wide spectrum of activities, such as hormones and neurotrophins, to deliver distinct biological outcomes. The neuroendocrine cell line PC12, derived from rat pheochromocytoma, provides an example of how one canonical signaling cassette—the Raf → mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) → extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway—can promote distinct outcomes, which in this case include neuritogenesis, gene induction, and proliferation. Two growth hormones, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF), use the same pathway to cause PC12 proliferation and differentiation, respectively. In addition, pituitary adenylate cyclase–activating polypeptide (PACAP), a neurotransmitter that also causes differentiation, uses the same canonical cassette as NGF but in a different way. The Connections Map for PC12 Cell Differentiation brings into focus the complex array of specific cellular responses that rely on canonical signal transduction systems.

A cDNA for a rat vesicular monoamine transporter, designated MAT, was isolated by expression cloning in a mammalian cell line (CV-1). The cDNA sequence predicts a protein of 515 amino acids with 12 putative membrane-spanning domains. The characteristics of [3H]serotonin accumulation by CV-1 cells expressing the cDNA clone suggested sequestration by an intracellular compartment. In cells permeabilized with digitonin, uptake was ATP dependent with an apparent Km of 1.3 microM. Uptake was abolished by the proton-translocating ionophore carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone and with tri-(n-butyl)tin, an inhibitor of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase. The rank order of potency to inhibit uptake was reserpine > tetrabenazine > serotonin > dopamine > norepinephrine > epinephrine. Direct comparison of [3H]monoamine uptake indicated that serotonin was the preferred substrate. Photolabeling of membranes prepared from CV-1 cells expressing MAT with 7-azido-8-[125I]iodoketanserin revealed a predominant tetrabenazine-sensitive photolabeled glycoprotein with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 75 kDa. The mRNA that encodes MAT was present specifically in monoamine-containing cells of the locus coeruleus, substantia nigra, and raphe nucleus of rat brain, each of which expresses a unique plasma membrane reuptake transporter. The MAT cDNA clone defines a vesicular monoamine transporter representing a distinct class of neurotransmitter transport molecules.

A second isoform of the human vesicular monoamine transporter (hVMAT) has been cloned from a pheochromocytoma cDNA library. The contribution of the two transporter isoforms to monoamine storage in human neuroendocrine tissues was examined with isoform-specific polyclonal antibodies against hVMAT1 and hVMAT2. Central, peripheral, and enteric neurons express only VMAT2. VMAT1 is expressed exclusively in neuroendocrine, including chromaffin and enterochromaffin, cells. VMAT1 and VMAT2 are coexpressed in all chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla. VMAT2 alone is expressed in histamine-storing enterochromaffin-like cells of the oxyntic mucosa of the stomach. The transport characteristics and pharmacology of each VMAT isoform have been directly compared after expression in digitonin-permeabilized fibroblastic (CV-1) cells, providing information about substrate feature recognition by each transporter and the role of vesicular monoamine storage in the mechanism of action of psychopharmacologic and neurotoxic agents in human. Serotonin has a similar affinity for both transporters. Catecholamines exhibit a 3-fold higher affinity, and histamine exhibits a 30-fold higher affinity, for VMAT2. Reserpine and ketanserin are slightly more potent inhibitors of VMAT2-mediated transport than of VMAT1-mediated transport, whereas tetrabenazine binds to and inhibits only VMAT2. N-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium, phenylethylamine, amphetamine, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine are all more potent inhibitors of VMAT2 than of VMAT1, whereas fenfluramine is a more potent inhibitor of VMAT1-mediated monamine transport than of VMAT2-mediated monoamine transport. The unique distributions of hVMAT1 and hVMAT2 provide new markers for multiple neuroendocrine lineages, and examination of their transport properties provides mechanistic insights into the pharmacology and physiology of amine storage in cardiovascular, endocrine, and central nervous system function.