Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 1 (VMAT1)

VMAT1 is a protein that transports the monoamine neurotransmitters into synaptic vesicles.In chromaffin cells, it is responsible for transporting newly synthesized epinephrine from the cytosol back into chromaffin granules in preparation for release.For norepinephrine to be acted upon by PNMT in the cytosol, it must first be shipped out of granules of the chromaffin cells. This may occur via the catecholamine-H+ exchanger VMAT1.The vesicular monoamine transporter acts to accumulate cytosolic monoamines into vesicles, using the proton gradient maintained across the vesicular membrane. Its proper function is essential to the correct activity of the monoaminergic systems that have been implicated in several human neuropsychiatric disorders.