Taurine activates strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors in neurons of the rat inferior colliculus

Han, Xu; Zhou, Ke-Qing; Huang, Yina; Chen, Lin; Xu, Tian‐Le

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2004.07.001

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Most previous studies have found that taurine preferentially activates strychninesensitive glycine receptors, whereas very high concentrations (1-10 mM) of taurine also activate GABA A -Rs (Hussy et al, 1997;del Olmo et al, 2000;McCool and Botting, 2000;Wu and Xu, 2003;Jiang et al, 2004;Xu et al, 2004). This study represents the first report that low micromolar concentrations (10 -100 M) of taurine can activate GABA A -Rs in the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Taurine is a structural analog of the inhibitory neurotransmitters glycine and GABA, and activates both glycine and GABA A receptors. For example, low to moderate concentrations (200 M to 1 mM) of taurine have been shown to activate glycine receptors in the basolateral amygdala (McCool and Botting, 2000), hippocampus (Wu and Xu, 2003), nucleus accumbens (Jiang et al, 2004), supraoptic nucleus (Hussy et al, 1997), and inferior colliculus (Xu et al, 2004), whereas high concentrations of taurine (1-10 mM) activate GABA A receptors in these brain regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taurine Is a Potent Activator of Extrasynaptic GABA_AReceptors in the Thalamus

Fan¹,

Yue²,

Chandra³

et al. 2008

J. Neurosci.

153

129

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Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the brain. In a number of studies, taurine has been reported to activate glycine receptors (Gly-Rs) at moderate concentrations (Ն100 M), and to be a weak agonist at GABA A receptors (GABA A -Rs), which are usually activated at high concentrations (Ն1 mM). In this study, we show that taurine reduced the excitability of thalamocortical relay neurons and activated both extrasynaptic GABA A -Rs and Gly-Rs in neurons in the mouse ventrobasal (VB) thalamus. Low concentrations of taurine (10 -100 M) decreased neuronal input resistance and firing frequency, and elicited a steady outward current under voltage clamp, but had no effects on fast inhibitory synaptic currents. Currents elicited by 50 M taurine were abolished by gabazine, insensitive to midazolam, and partially blocked by 20 M Zn 2ϩ , consistent with the pharmacological properties of extrasynaptic GABA A -Rs (␣4␤2␦ subtype) involved in tonic inhibition in the thalamus. Tonic inhibition was enhanced by an inhibitor of taurine transport, suggesting that taurine can act as an endogenous activator of these receptors. Taurine-evoked currents were absent in relay neurons from GABA A -R ␣4 subunit knock-out mice. The amplitude of the taurine current was larger in neurons from adult mice than juvenile mice. Taurine was a more potent agonist at recombinant ␣4␤2␦ GABA A -Rs than at ␣1␤2␥2 GABA A -Rs. We conclude that physiological concentrations of taurine can inhibit VB neurons via activation of extrasynaptic GABA A -Rs and that taurine may function as an endogenous regulator of excitability and network activity in the thalamus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taurine Is a Potent Activator of Extrasynaptic GABA_AReceptors in the Thalamus

Fan¹,

Yue²,

Chandra³

et al. 2008

J. Neurosci.

153

129

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Taurine is essential for cardiovascular function, and for the development and physiology of the muscles, retina and central nervous system, as demonstrated by studies on taurine-deficient animal models (Heller-Stilb et al, 2002;Warskulat et al, 2006Warskulat et al, , 2007. Taurine content widely varies among brain regions and during development (Miller et al, 2000), and taurine has an inhibitory action on neuronal activity by interacting with GABA or glycine receptors (Xu et al, 2004;Albrecht and Schousboe, 2005). In vertebrates, many studies have shown that taurine and its transporters are used to maintain osmolarity homeostasis in the nervous system without compromising neuronal function by the release of osmolytes or the exit of water (Miller et al, 2000;PasantesMorales et al, 2002a;Foster et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Involvement of the drosophila taurine/aspartate transporter dEAAT2 in selective olfactory and gustatory perceptions

Besson

Sinakevitch

Melon

et al. 2011

J of Comparative Neurology

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Excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are membrane proteins involved in the uptake of neurotransmitter amino acids in the nervous system. The Drosophila dEAAT2 gene was previously described to encode a taurine/aspartate transporter. To analyze further the expression pattern and physiological function of this protein, we generated transgenic flies containing either the dEAAT2 promoter region fused to GAL4 (dEAAT2-GAL4) or a transgene allowing expression of a dEAAT2::GFP fusion protein (UAS-dEAAT2::GFP). We observed that dEAAT2-GAL4 expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in neurons in central and peripheral structures of third-instar larvae and adult flies. Labeled neurons were found in olfactory and gustatory pathways, in which dEAAT2::GFP was detected from the dendrites of the sensory neurons up to the first- and second-order centers. dEAAT2-GAL4 is also expressed in mechanosensory neurons. We found that a viable piggyBac insertion strain disrupts dEAAT2 expression. This mutant appears morphologically normal and presents no locomotor or phototaxis impairments; however, its brain taurine level is significantly reduced compared with that of wild-type flies. The dEAAT2 mutant showed decreased avoidance behavior in the presence of high concentration of propionic acid compared with wild-type flies, but no modification of the avoidance response to benzaldehyde. In gustatory tests, both mutant and control flies were normally attracted to sucrose; however, the dEAAT2 mutant presented a higher salt sensitivity, being repulsed by low and high salt concentrations. Therefore, we conclude that dEAAT2 does function as a taurine transporter in vivo and that this protein is physiologically required for the sensory perception of specific environmental molecules.

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“…The knockout of the taurine transporter in mice will lead to degeneration of auditory nerve Wbers and loss of inner hair cells (Jiang et al, 2005). Recently, our study has shown that taurine activates strychnine-sensitive GlyRs in dissociated IC neurons in young rats (Xu et al, 2004). However, little is known in the current literature about the possible functional role of taurine in the neuronal responses and neurotransmissions of the central auditory system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%