Abstract
Taurine, a ${\beta}-amino$ acid, plays an important role as a neuromodulator and is necessary for the normal development of the brain. Since de novo synthesis of taurine in the brain is minimal and in vivo studies suggest that taurine dose not cross the blood-brain barrier, we examined whether the choroid plexus, the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier, plays a role in taurine transport in the central nervous system. The uptake of $[^3H]-taurine$ into ATP depleted choroid plexus from rabbit was substantially greater in the presence of an inwardly directed $Na^+$ gradient taurine accumulation was negligible. A transient in side-negative potential gradient enhanced the $Na^+-driven$ uptake of taurine into the tissue slices, suggesting that the transport process is electrogenic, $Na^+-driven$ taurine uptake was saturable with an estimated $V_{max}$ of $111\;{\pm}\;20.2\;nmole/g/15\;min$ and a $K_M\;of\;99.8{\pm}29.9\;{\mu}M$. The estimated coupling ratio of $Na^+$ and taurine was $1.80\;{\pm}\;0.122.$ $Na^+-dependent$ taurine uptake was significantly inhibited by ${\beta}-amino$ acids, but not by ${\alpha}-amino$ acids, indicating that the transporter is selective for ${\beta}-amino$ acids. Since it is known that the physiological concentration of taurine in the CSF is lower than that in the plasma, the active transport system we characterized may face the brush border (i.e., CSF facing) side of the choroid plexus and actively transport taurine out of the CSF. Therefore, we examined in vivo elimination of taurine from the CSF in the rat to determine whether elimination kinetics of taurine from the CSF is consistent with the in vitro study. Using a stereotaxic device, cannulaes were placed into the lateral ventricle and the cisterna magna of the rat. Radio-labelled taurine and inulin (a marker of CSF flow) were injected into the lateral ventricle, and the concentrations of the labelled compounds in the CSF were monitored for upto 3 hrs in the cisterna magna. The apparent clearance of taurine from CSF was greater than the estimated CSF flow (p<0.005) indicating that there is a clearance process in addition to the CSF flow. Taurine distribution into the choroid plexus was at least 10 fold higher than that found in other brain areas (e. g., cerebellum, olfactory bulb and cortex). When unlabelled taurine was co-administered with radio-labelled taurine, the apparent clearance of taurine was reduced (p<0.0l), suggesting a saturable disposition of taurine from CSF. Distribution of taurine into the choroid plexus, cerebellum, olfactory bulb and cortex was similarly diminished, indicating that the saturable uptake of taurine into these tissues is responsible for the non-linear disposition. A pharmacokinetic model involving first order elimination and saturable distribution described these data adequately. The Michaelis-Menten rate constant estimated from in vivo elimination study is similar to that obtained in the in vitro uptake experiment. Collectively, our results demonstrate that taurine is transported in the choroid plexus via a $Na^+-dependent,saturable$ and apparently ${\beta}-amino$ acid selective mechanism. This process may be functionally relevant to taurine homeostasis in the brain.