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Mode of Action of Taurine and Regulation Dynamics of Its Synthesis in the CNS

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Taurine 4

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 483))

Conclusion

The regulation of taurine biosynthesis can be summarized as following: (i) When neurons are stimulated, the arrival of action potential will open the voltage-dependent Ca2+-channel, resulting in an increase of intracellular free Ca2+, [Ca2+]i, (ii) Elevation of [Ca2+]i will trigger release of taurine as well as activation of PKC, which in turn activates CSAD through protein phosphorylation; (iii) The activated CSAD then synthesizes more taurine to replenish that lost due to stimulation-mediated release; (iv) When intracellular taurine reach a certain level, it then inhibits the activation of PKC directly or indirectly (possibly through regulating Ca2+ availability), thus shutting down activation of CSAD through inhibition of CSAD phosphorylation by PKC; and (v) CSAD soon returns to its inactive state through the action of a protein phosphatase, most likely PrP-2C. The mode of action of taurine inlowering the level of [Ca2+]i, is at least partially due to its inhibition on the reverse mode of Na+-Ca2+ exchanger activity

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Mol. Biosci., Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Jang-Yen Wu, Weiqing Chen, Xiao Wen Tang, Hong Jin, Todd Foos, Kathleen Davis & Che-Chang Hsu

  2. Inst. ofBiol. Chem., Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jang-Yen Wu

  3. Dept. of Med. Chem., Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    John V. Schloss

  4. Dept. of Pharmacol. & Toxicol., Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Morris D. Faiman

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  1. University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Laura Della Corte

  2. University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona

    Ryan J. Huxtable

  3. University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Giampietro Sgaragli

  4. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

    Keith F. Tipton

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Wu, JY. et al. (2002). Mode of Action of Taurine and Regulation Dynamics of Its Synthesis in the CNS. In: Della Corte, L., Huxtable, R.J., Sgaragli, G., Tipton, K.F. (eds) Taurine 4. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 483. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46838-7_4

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