We investigated mechanisms controlling taurine synthesis in cultured rat cerebral astrocytes. The mean ± SE rate of taurine synthesis from extracellular cysteine was 21.2 ± 2.0 pmol ⋅ mg protein-1 ⋅ min-1, whereas taurine degradation was <1.3% of this rate. Eliminating cellular glutathione and inhibiting glutathione biosynthesis increased taurine synthesis from extracellular cysteine by 39%. In...

Three processes that have been implicated in ischemic injury are impaired Ca2+movement, altered osmoregulation, and membrane remodeling. Because the amino acid, taurine, affects all three processes, it seemed logical that changes in the myocardial content of taurine might affect ischemic injury. To test this hypothesis, infarct size and areas at risk were compared in isolated hearts from contro...

Cultured rat retinal pigment epithelium actively accumulates taurine against a concentration gradient; an intracellular concentration of 12 mM is maintained at an extracellular taurine concentration of 0.12 mM. Taurine accumulation conforms to Michaelis-Menten kinetics for extracellular taurine concentrations between 0.006 and 0.05 mM; within that range the Km is 16 muM and the Vmax is 2.3 nmol...

KEY POINTS Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle wasting disease associated with increased inflammation, oxidative stress and myofibre necrosis. Cysteine precursor antioxidants such as N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and l-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylate (OTC) reduce dystropathology in the mdx mouse model for DMD, and we propose this is via increased synthesis of the amino acid taurine. W...

The effect of taurine treatment on antioxidant defense in liver and brain tissues of old rats was investigated. Endogenous malondialdehyde (MDA) and diene conjugate (DC), ascorbic acid (AA)- and NADPH-induced lipid peroxide levels as well as non-enzymatic (glutathione--GSH, vitamin E and vitamin C) and enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transfer...

Taurine chloramine is the major chloramine generated in activated neutrophils via the reaction between the overproduced hypochlorous acid and the stored taurine. Taurine chloramine has anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects in inflamed tissues by inhibiting the production of inflammatory mediators. Taurine chloramine increases heme oxygenase activity and also protects against hydrogen per...

PURPOSE To assess the relative resistance presented individually by Bruch's membrane-choroid (BC) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to movement of taurine between the choroidal circulation and the outer retina. To quantify the effect of light-evoked changes in subretinal potassium concentration on the transepithelial transport of taurine across bovine RPE. METHODS Transport studies wer...

Amino acids are well known to be an important class of compounds for the maintenance of body homeostasis and their deficit, even for the polar neuroactive aminoacids, can be controlled by supplementation. However, for the amino acid taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) this is not true. Due its special physicochemical properties, taurine is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. In addition o...

Taurine transport into six brain regions of equithesin-anesthetized rats was studied by the in situ brain perfusion technique. This technique gives both accurate measurements of cerebrovascular amino acid transport and allows complete control of the perfusate amino acid composition. Final wash procedure showed that taurine efflux occurred rapidly from endothelial cells. The taurine influx into ...

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether taurine supplementation to laying hens would influence laying performance. In Experiment 1, a total of 120 White Leghorn hens were fed diets supplemented with 0, 0.25, or 0.5% taurine for 5 wk. Egg weight was reduced significantly by supplementing 0.25 and 0.5% taurine; however, taurine did not affect other laying performance variables. In Exp...