Transport and Storage of Biogenic Amines

Abstract

The remarkable evolution of knowledge of the metabolism, transport, and storage of biogenic amines has come about to a large extent because of studies with drugs that interact with these processes. There are few better examples of the contribution of pharmacologic research to basic biology.Various aspects of biogenic amines and adrenergic mechanisms have been reviewed from time to time, and several excellent reviews may be found in previous issues of Annual Review of Pharmacology as well as other sources (1-8). The interested reader is referred to them.The present review will restrict itself generally to aspects of biogenic amine transport and storage in nervous tissue and with the interactions of selected drugs with these mechanisms. The discussion will address itself only to the biogenic monoamines, that is, the catecholamines and 5-hydroxy tryptamine (SHT). It will focus mostly on transport and storage of norepi nephrine at the adrenergic neurone, as it appears that this system serves generally as a model of the mechanisms involved in transport and storage of the other monoamines, although, to be sure, differences arise. Amine biosyn thesis and metabolism will not be touched upon except as pertinent to ques tions of transport and storage. As will be apparent to the reader, no attempt has been made to present a complete review of the vast literature on this subject.Two distinctly separate but linked systems exist at the level of mono amine neurones: an intraneuronal amine concentrating-storage mechanism associated with amine granules, and a neurone membrane amine pump. UPTAKE AND STORAGE BY AMINE GRANULESAlthough norepinephrine (NE) is found throughout the adrenergic neu rone, studies, mainly of peripheral adrenergic neurones, have revealed that this amine is present in highest concentration in the nerve terminal, with lesser amounts in the more proximal portion of the axon and in the cell body. The histochemical , fluorescence technique, which allows the visualiza tion of NE stores as well as other monoamines, reveals the presence of a filamentous network studded with enlargements or varicosities where NE is especially concentrated (see, for example, references 9,10). These varicosi ties seem to be groupings of the amine storage granules or vesicles as seen 209 Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. 1972.12:209-226. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by Columbia University on 02/05/15. For personal use only.Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS

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