Vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) are essential for proper monoaminergic neurotransmission, which requires the sequestration of the transmitter into synaptic vesicles by VMAT for subsequent Ca2+-stimulated exocytotic release. VMATs contain 12 transmembrane spanning domains, with cytosolic C- and N-terminals and large glycosylated intravesicular loops. In mammals, there are two VMAT isoforms: VMAT1 (SLC18A1) and VMAT2 (SLC18A2)
