Allosteric modulatory effects of SRI-20041 and SRI-30827 on cocaine and HIV-1 Tat protein binding to human dopamine transporter

Dopamine transporter (DAT) is the target of cocaine and HIV-1 transactivator of transcription (Tat) protein. Identifying allosteric modulatory molecules with potential attenuation of cocaine and Tat binding to DAT are of great scientific and clinical interest. We demonstrated that tyrosine 470 and 88 act as functional recognition residues in human DAT (hDAT) for Tat-induced inhibition of DA transport and transporter conformational transitions. Here we investigated the allosteric modulatory effects of two allosteric ligands, SRI-20041 and SRI-30827 on cocaine binding on wild type (WT) hDAT, Y470 H and Y88 F mutants. Effect of SRI-30827 on Tat-induced inhibition of [(3)H]WIN35,428 binding was also determined. Compared to a competitive DAT inhibitor indatraline, both SRI-compounds displayed a similar decrease (30%) in IC(50) for inhibition of [(3)H]DA uptake by cocaine in WT hDAT. The addition of SRI-20041 or SRI-30827 following cocaine slowed the dissociation rate of [(3)H]WIN35,428 binding in WT hDAT relative to cocaine alone. Moreover, Y470H and Y88F hDAT potentiate the inhibitory effect of cocaine on DA uptake and attenuate the effects of SRI-compounds on cocaine-mediated dissociation rate. SRI-30827 attenuated Tat-induced inhibition of [(3)H]WIN35,428 binding. These observations demonstrate that tyrosine 470 and 88 are critical for allosteric modulatory effects of SRI-compounds on the interaction of cocaine with hDAT.