Abstract
It is generally recognized that the amino acid, taurine, is important for the proper functioning of a number of organs, such as the brain, retina, heart, liver and kidney. Individual tissues can maintain high intracellular taurine levels through local biosynthesis, and/or by the transmembrane transport of taurine synthesized either elsewhere in the body (such as in the liver) or obtained from external dietary sources. Taurine exists as a zwitterion at physiological pH and, therefore, diffuses poorly across lipid membrane bilayers6, 7. Hence taurine requires a transporter for efficient entry into cells.
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Lake, N., Orlowski, J. (1996). Cellular Studies of the Taurine Transporter. In: Huxtable, R.J., Azuma, J., Kuriyama, K., Nakagawa, M., Baba, A. (eds) Taurine 2. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 403. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0182-8_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0182-8_39
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