We investigated the interaction of paroxetine, a nontricyclic antidepressant, with the serotonin transporter of the human placental brush-border membrane. Paroxetine bound to the purified placental brush-border membranes with a high affinity [dissociation constant (Kd) = 72 pM]. The maximal binding capacity (Bmax) was 3.9 pmol/mg protein. Imipramine, desipramine, and serotonin inhibited the binding in a dose-dependent manner with inhibition constant (Ki) values of 4.4 nM, 48.7 nM, and 1.77 microM, respectively, whereas reserpine, ketanserin, and 5-hydroxytryptophan did not have any effect. Imipramine and serotonin inhibited paroxetine binding by increasing the Kd with essentially no effect on Bmax. Binding of paroxetine to the membranes increased hyperbolically with increasing concentrations of Na+ in the assay medium. Cl- had little effect on the binding. The effect of Na+ was primarily to increase the affinity of the transporter for paroxetine with no effect on Bmax. The association constant (Ka) increased hyperbolically as the concentration of Na+ increased, indicating a 1Na+:1paroxetine stoichiometry. The maximal value for Ka was 12.1 +/- 2.5 x 10(12) M-1, and Kd for Na+ was 10.0 +/- 3.5 mM. Treatment of the membranes with tyrosyl group-specific reagents reduced the Na(+)-dependent binding, suggesting the involvement of tyrosyl residues in the binding process. This inhibition was, however, significantly reduced when treatment with the reagent was performed in the presence of Na+, suggesting that the reactive tyrosyl residues were located at or near the Na(+)-binding site. Paroxetine inhibited NaCl gradient-dependent serotonin uptake in placental brush-border membrane vesicles both at pH 6.5 and 7.5.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)