Neurotransmitter transporters in the insect nervous system

Publisher Summary The chapter summarizes the current state of understanding of neurotransmitter transport across the plasma membrane in insect nervous tissue. Neurotransmitters are chemical signals released from neurons at specialized synapses by exocytosis. The specific proteins involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and transport at the nerve terminal that assign each neuron in the arthropod central nervous system its unique molecular identity are described in the chapter. The chapter describes the molecular physiology of the various neurotransmitter transporters (NTT) systems in insects. The approach used is necessarily hierarchical and comparative. Much about the molecular biology of neurotransmitter uptake in the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila and other insects is derived from discoveries in the mammalian CNS. The review concludes with an assessment of the potential of neurotransmitter transporters as selective neural targets for future insect control strategies.