Protein / target

Sodium-dependent dopamine transporter

SLC6A3Q01959Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
28
Approved medicines
10
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Neurotransmitter transmembrane transporter activity

Primary system

Nervous system

Strongest disease association

classic dopamine transporter deficiency syndrome

Genetic evidence · score 0.85

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

28 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

28 approved · 10 in clinical development

10 linked trials

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function

Mediates sodium- and chloride-dependent transport of dopamine (PubMed:10375632, PubMed:11093780, PubMed:1406597, PubMed:15505207, PubMed:19478460, PubMed:39112701, PubMed:39112703, PubMed:39112705, PubMed:8302271). Also mediates sodium- and chloride-dependent transport of norepinephrine (also known as noradrenaline) (By similarity). Regulator of light-dependent retinal hyaloid vessel regression, downstream of OPN5 signaling (By similarity)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneCell projection, neuron projectionCell projection, axon
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (38)

Gene Ontology

  • Caxon
  • Caxon terminus
  • Ccell surface
  • Ccytoplasm
  • Cdopaminergic synapse
  • Cflotillin complex
  • Cmembrane
  • Cmembrane raft
  • Cneuron projection
  • Cneuronal cell body
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Cpostsynaptic membrane

620 aa · 68 kDa

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Synaptic signallingGOIon channel gatingGOProteolysisGO
View supporting evidence

Synaptic signalling

  • ·dopaminergic synapse
  • ·postsynaptic membrane
  • ·presynaptic membrane
  • ·dopamine uptake involved in synaptic transmission

Ion channel gating

  • ·sodium ion transmembrane transport

Proteolysis

  • ·protease binding
View underlying pathways (4)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

DRD2SNCASTX1ASLC18A2DRD4THCAMK2ASYNGR3FLOT1PRKCBSLC6A3

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

Amphetamine
Narrow target profileApprovedReleasing agent

Dopamine transporter releasing agent

Appears in clinical studies involving attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, cocaine dependence

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 2 recorded protein targets — narrow recorded profile

ChEMBL mechanism, action type and target identity. Open Targets clinical status and indications.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.

Strongest genetic associations

Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.

classic dopamine transporter deficiency syndrome0.85

Genetic · overall 0.76

parkinsonism-dystonia, infantile0.85

Genetic literature · overall 0.75

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonism0.84

Genetic literature · overall 0.79

Highest-confidence therapeutic associations

Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder1.00

Clinical · overall 0.64

major depressive disorder1.00

Clinical · overall 0.63

narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome0.97

Clinical · overall 0.59

obesity disorder0.97

Clinical · overall 0.60

Obesity0.96

Clinical · overall 0.60

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

Alzheimer disease0.62

Literature

sleep disorder0.57

Clinical

Show all associations
Infantile dystonia-parkinsonism0.79
classic dopamine transporter deficiency syndrome0.76
parkinsonism-dystonia, infantile0.75
attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder0.64
major depressive disorder0.63
Alzheimer disease0.62
obesity disorder0.60
Obesity0.60
narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome0.59
sleep disorder0.57

Open Targets ranks 1,307 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.

Known drugs · 41 total

LISDEXAMFETAMINE DIMESYLATEApproval

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder · Huntington disease · binge eating disorder

NOMIFENSINEApproval

major depressive disorder · breast cancer

BUPROPIONApproval

Overweight · Obesity · major depressive disorder

LIAFENSINEPhase 2

major depressive disorder · major depressive disorder · treatment resistant depression

PHENMETRAZINEApproval

Obesity

METHAMPHETAMINEApproval

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder · Pain · obsessive-compulsive disorder

METHYLPHENIDATEApproval

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder · narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome · Hyperactivity

TESOFENSINEPhase 2

Pain · Dyskinesia · Parkinson disease

PHENDIMETRAZINE TARTRATEApproval

obesity disorder

DASOTRALINEApproval

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder · eating disorder · mood disorder

Tractability

SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule Binder

Safety liabilities

acneaddictive psychostimulationdyskinesiaalcoholismparkinsonismreceptor bindingdystoniaacneincreased locomotor activitystereotypyparkinsonismdepression

Clinical trials

10

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Forefront confidence

Synthesis

Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.

classic dopamine transporter deficiency syndromeWell supported
0.85
agreement 0.730.97
Genetic100%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.76 · 1 independent evidence family · 1 not counted as duplicate

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonismWell supported
0.83
agreement 0.690.97
Genetic98%Literature2%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.79 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

parkinsonism-dystonia, infantileWell supported
0.81
agreement 0.680.95
Genetic98%Literature2%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.75 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

attention deficit-hyperactivity disorderWell supported
0.79
agreement 0.630.94
Clinical84%Literature16%

Open Targets aggregate 0.64 · 2 independent evidence families

major depressive disorderWell supported
0.77
agreement 0.620.93
Clinical88%Literature12%

Open Targets aggregate 0.63 · 2 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.

What's happening now

4

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through a drug that targets this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. New publication2025-04-28
    Astroglial CB<sub>1</sub> Reveal Sex-Specific Synaptic Effects of Amphetamine.

    Glia · 2025 · 3 citations · Europe PMC · via Amphetamine

  2. New publication2025-01-13
    Astrocytes Mediate Psychostimulant-Induced Alterations of Spike-Timing Dependent Synaptic Plasticity.

    Glia · 2025 · 2 citations · Europe PMC · via Amphetamine

  3. New publication2014-01-01
    Comparison of Caffeine and d-amphetamine in Cocaine-Dependent Subjects: Differential Outcomes on Subjective and Cardiovascular Effects, Reward Learning, and Salivary Paraxanthine.

    Journal of addiction research & therapy · 2014 · 8 citations · Europe PMC · via Amphetamine

  4. New publication2011-10-01
    Animal models of schizophrenia.

    British journal of pharmacology · 2011 · 537 citations · Europe PMC · via Amphetamine

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.