Biogenic Amine Transporters

Professor Randy Blakely explains that biogenic amines include transmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Transporters assist these amines at synapses.

Biogenic amine transporters are membrane proteins that assist in the ability of these small molecules called biogenic amines, like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, to act at brain synapses. When these molecules are released, they need to have a finite duration of action, and their action should not spread very far beyond an initial synapse or a small set of synapses. These biogenic amine transporters are proteins that remove the neurotransmitters from the extracellular space and keep the path clear for the next arriving pulse of neurotransmitter.