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Transforming the understanding
and treatment of mental illnesses.

Celebrating 75 Years! Learn More >>

Susan G. Amara Ph.D.

Susan Amara, Ph.D., Scientific Director

Research Topics

Work in Dr. Amara’s laboratory has examined the impact of psychostimulant and antidepressant drugs on the signaling properties, physiology and acute regulation of biogenic amine transporters. Her group has also addressed the structure, function and physiology of glutamate transporters. This work has demonstrated that transporters can serve dual functions as transporters and as substrate-gated ion channels, revealing additional mechanisms by which carriers regulate neuronal excitability. Dr. Amara’s laboratory continues to investigate:

  1. Regulation of transporter function and trafficking by amphetamines
  2. Structure-function relationships in excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs)
  3. Modulation of dopamine transporters (DAT) by GPCRs
  4. Genetics and functional analyses of human trace amine receptors

Biography

Dr. Amara is currently the Scientific Director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Work in her laboratory has focused on the structure, function, and cellular physiology of neurotransmitter transporters, including glutamate transporters as well as the biogenic amine transporters, major targets for psychostimulant drugs and antidepressants. She received a BS from Stanford University, a PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California, San Diego and has previously held faculty positions at Yale University School of Medicine, at the Vollum Institute in Portland Oregon and as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Yale and in Oregon. Prior to moving to NIH she served as the Thomas Detre Chair of Neurobiology and Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2004), a fellow of the AAAS (2007) and a past-President of the Society for Neuroscience (2011).

Selected Publications

Underhill SM, Hullihen PD, Chen J, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Rizzo MA, Ingram SL, Amara SG (2019) Amphetamines signal through intracellular TAAR1 receptors coupled to G?13 and G?S in discrete subcellular domains. Mol Psychiatry, in press (e-pub ahead of print) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0469-2. [Pubmed Link ]

Underhill SM, Colt MS, Amara SG (2020). Amphetamine Stimulates Endocytosis of the Norepinephrine and Neuronal Glutamate Transporters in Cultured Locus Coeruleus Neurons. Neurochem Res 45, 1410-1419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-019-02939-6. [Pubmed Link ]

Underhill SM, Amara SG (2021). Acetylcholine Receptor Stimulation Activates Protein Kinase C Mediated Internalization of the Dopamine Transporter. Front Cell Neurosci 15, 662216. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2021.662216. [Pubmed Link ]

Unger EK, Keller JP, Altermatt M, Liang R, Matsui A, Dong C, Hon OJ, Yao Z, Sun J, Banala S, Flanigan ME, Jaffe DA, Hartanto S, Carlen J, Mizuno GO, Borden PM, Shivange AV, Cameron LP, Sinning S, Underhill SM, Olson DE, Amara SG, Temple Lang D, Rudnick G, Marvin JS, Lavis LD, Lester HA, Alvarez VA, Fisher AJ, Prescher JA, Kash TL, Yarov-Yarovoy V, Gradinaru V, Looger LL, Tian L (2020). Directed Evolution of a Selective and Sensitive Serotonin Sensor via Machine Learning. Cell 183, 1986-2002.e26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.040. [Pubmed Link ]

Underhill SM, Ingram SL, Ahmari SE, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Amara SG (2019). Neuronal excitatory amino acid transporter EAAT3: Emerging functions in health and disease. Neurochem Int 123, 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuint.2018.05.012. [Pubmed Link ]

Building 35A, Room GE-414, MSC 3747
BETHESDA, MD 20892

Phone: +1 301 496 3501

susan.amara@nih.gov