Editing Vesicular monoamine transporter (section)

==Discovery==
VMAT research began in 1958 when [[Nils-Åke Hillarp]] discovered [[secretory vesicles]]. In the 1970s, scientists like [[Arvid Carlsson]] recognized the need to understand how transport systems and ion gradients work in different organisms in order to explore new treatment options such as [[reserpine]] (RES). Researchers discovered inhibitors that blocked the uptake of neurotransmitters into vesicles, suggesting the existence of VMATs.<ref name="Eiden, L. 2004">{{cite journal | author = Eiden L. | author2 = Schäfer M. H. | year = 2004 | title = The vesicular amine transporter family (SLC18) amine/proton antiporters required for vesicular accumulation and regulated exocytotic secretion of monoamines and acetylcholine | journal = Pflügers Archiv | volume = 447 | issue = 5| pages = 636–640 | doi=10.1007/s00424-003-1100-5 | pmid=12827358| s2cid = 20764857 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> A decade later, molecular genetic tools have improved methods for protein identification. Scientists have used these tools to analyze DNA and amino acid sequences, and discovered that transporters in bacteria and humans were very similar, which emphasized the importance and universality of transporters.<ref name="Wimalasena, K. 2011">{{cite journal | author = Wimalasena K | year = 2011 | title = Vesicular monoamine transporters: structure-function, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry | journal = Med Res Rev | volume = 31 | issue = 4| pages = 483–519 | doi=10.1002/med.20187 | pmid=20135628 | pmc=3019297}}</ref> The transporters were first structurally identified by cloning VMATs in rats.<ref name="Eiden, L. 2004"/> The VMAT were first isolated and purified in bovine chromaffin granules, in both its native and [[Denaturation (biochemistry)|denatured]] forms.<ref name="Henry, J. P. 1994">{{cite journal |author1=Henry J. P. |author2=Botton D. | year = 1994 | title = Biochemistry and molecular biology of the vesicular monoamine transporter from chromaffin granules | journal = J Exp Biol | volume = 196 | pages = 251–62 |doi=10.1242/jeb.196.1.251 |display-authors=etal|pmid=7823026 |doi-access=free }}</ref>