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Taurine-evoked chloride current and its potentiation by intracellular Ca2+ in immature rat hippocampal CA1 neurons

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Summary.

 Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the immature mammalian central nervous system. In the present study, whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made to examine taurine-evoked currents (I Tau) in acutely dissociated immature rat hippocampal CA1 neurons. Taurine at low concentrations (≤1 mM) activated glycine receptors while at high concentrations (≥3 mM) activated both glycine and GABAA receptors. Moreover, elevation of intracellular Ca2+ via non-NMDA receptor activation enhanced I Tau reversibly.

The results indicate that taurine may act as a native ligand of glycine receptors and modulate neurotransmissions in the immature hippocampus, and under certain conditions it can also activate GABAA receptors. The potentiation of I Tau by intracellular Ca2+ may contribute to the protection effect of taurine under some cell-damaging conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Receptor Pharmacology, Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, People's Republic of China, , , , , , CN

    Z.-Y. Wu & T.-L. Xu

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  1. Z.-Y. Wu
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  2. T.-L. Xu
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Received April 2, 2002 Accepted April 17, 2002 Published online September 4, 2002

Acknowledgements This study was partially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (G1999054000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30125015), and the Training Grant Award for Ph.D. Students Mentor from the Ministry of Education of China (2000035812) to T.-L. Xu. We thank Prof. L. Chen, Drs. X.-P. Dong and Y. Li for valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

Authors' address:  Dr. Tian-Le Xu, Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, P.O. Box 4, Hefei 230027, P. R. China, Fax: +86-551-360-7014, E-mail: xutianle@ustc.edu.cn

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Wu, ZY., Xu, TL. Taurine-evoked chloride current and its potentiation by intracellular Ca2+ in immature rat hippocampal CA1 neurons. Amino Acids 24, 155–161 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-002-0314-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-002-0314-8

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