title: Taurine uptake by normal and cystic fibrosis fibroblasts.
abstract: Taurine deficiency recently has been proposed to be clinically significant in cystic fibrosis (CF). Uptake of [14C]taurine by four cystic fibrosis (CF) and three control fibroblast lines was examined to determine whether a generalized defect in taurine transport could contribute to the deficiency. The time course of uptake was linear up to 20 h and was similar in both CF and control fibroblasts. Taurine was avidly retained after uptake, and the effect of metabolic (chlorpromazine) and competitive (hypotaurine, L-leucine) inhibitors was similar in both CF and control cells. In contrast, while taurine uptake in a calcium-free medium was impaired in both CF and control fibroblasts, the impairment was significantly less in CF cells. The findings suggest that a generalized abnormality in taurine transport is unlikely to be responsible for the taurine deficiency in CF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Pathology, Adelaide Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism; D013654:Taurine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine; D002118:Calcium