Synaptic transmission depends on neurotransmitter pools stored within vesicles that undergo regulated exocytosis. In the brain, the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT 2 ) is responsible for the loading of dopamine (DA) and other monoamines into synaptic vesicles. Prior to storage within vesicles, DA synthesis occurs at the synaptic terminal in a two-step enzymatic process. First, the rate-limiting enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) converts tyrosine to di-OH-phenylalanine. Aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) then converts di-OH-phenylalanine into DA. Here, we provide evidence that VMAT 2 physically and functionally interacts with the enzymes responsible for DA synthesis. In rat striata, TH and AADC co-immunoprecipitate with VMAT 2 , whereas in PC 12 cells, TH co-immunoprecipitates with the closely related VMAT 1 and with overexpressed VMAT 2 . GST pull-down assays further identified three cytosolic domains of VMAT 2 involved in the interaction with TH and AADC. Furthermore, in vitro binding assays demonstrated that TH directly interacts with VMAT 2 . Additionally, using fractionation and immunoisolation approaches, we demonstrate that TH and AADC associate with VMAT 2 -containing synaptic vesicles from rat brain. These vesicles exhibited specific TH activity. Finally, the coupling between synthesis and transport of DA into vesicles was impaired in the presence of fragments involved in the VMAT 2 /TH/AADC interaction. Taken together, our results indicate that DA synthesis can occur at the synaptic vesicle membrane, where it is physically and functionally coupled to VMAT 2 -mediated transport into vesicles.Monoamines, including dopamine (DA), 3 norepinephrine (NE), and serotonin (5-HT), are neurotransmitters that play major roles in a variety of brain functions, including emotion, reward, cognition, memory, attention, locomotion, and stress control (1-6). In neurons and neuroendocrine cells, monoamines are stored in large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) and small synaptic vesicles (SVs) (7-11) that undergo regulated exocytosis through a complex network of protein-protein interactions (12). Loading of monoamines into LDCVs and SVs of neurons and neuroendocrine cells is mediated by two vesicular monoamine transporter isoforms: VMAT 1 (13) and VMAT 2 (14). These transporters contain 12 putative transmembrane domains with both the N and C termini facing the cytosolic side of the vesicle membrane. VMAT 1 is mostly present in LDCVs of neuroendocrine cells, including chromaffin and PC12 cells, whereas VMAT 2 is primarily expressed by monoaminergic neurons of the central nervous system (15). In midbrain DA neurons, VMAT 2 is sorted to LDCVs and SVs in axon terminals and to LDCVs and tubulo-vesicular structures in the somatodendritic compartment (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)15).It is generally accepted that VMAT 2 transports DA that has been previously synthesized in the cytosolic compartment of the presynaptic terminal (16). DA synthesis requires two enzymatic reactions. First, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) converts tyrosine into DOP...