Taurine Partially Improves Abnormal Anxiety in Taurine-Deficient Mice.

Taurine is abundant in various tissues including the brain, muscle, heart, spleen, liver and kidney with various physiological functions. Since taurine is produced by cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSAD) in the liver and kidney, taurine-deficient mice without CSAD have been investigated for abnormal physiological functions such as retinal development, immune, pancreatic and liver function. In this study, the behavioral effects and abnormal brain development caused by low taurine in the developing brain were examined.

Glucose Homeostasis and Retinal Histopathology in CSAD KO Mice.

In this study we examined glucose homeostasis and retinal histology in homozygous knockout mice lacking CSAD (CSAD-KO). Two-month-old male mice were used including wild type (WT), homozygotes with without supplementation of taurine in the drinking water (1% w/v). Mice were sacrificed and the eyes processed for histology and immunohistochemistry.

A Novel Cysteine Sulfinic Acid Decarboxylase Knock-Out Mouse: Taurine Distribution in Various Tissues With and Without Taurine Supplementation.

Taurine, a sulfur containing amino acid, has various physiological functions including development of the eye and brain, immune function, reproduction, osmo-regulatory function as well as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In order to understand the physiological role, we developed taurine deficient mice deleting a rate-liming enzyme, cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSAD) for biosynthesis of taurine. Taurine was measured in various tissues including the liver, brain, lung, spleen, thymus, pancreas, heart, muscle and kidney as well as plasma from CSAD knock-out mice (CSAD KO) with and without treatment of taurine in the drinking water at the age of 2 months (2 M).

A Novel Cysteine Sulfinic Acid Decarboxylase Knock-Out Mouse: Immune Function (II).

Taurine deficient mice lacking cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSAD KO) were developed for investigating the various physiological roles of taurine including the development of the brain and eye as well as immune function. Due to severe abnormalities of immune function in a taurine deficient cat, the immune function including adoptive and innate immunity in taurine-deficient mice have been studied. Previously we demonstrated that B cell function in CSAD KO was reduced in both females and males.

Is Taurine a Biomarker in Autistic Spectrum Disorder?

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid which is not incorporated into protein. However, taurine has various critical physiological functions including development of the eye and brain, reproduction, osmoregulation, and immune functions including anti-inflammatory as well as anti-oxidant activity. The causes of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are not clear but a high heritability implicates an important role for genetic factors.

Downregulation of hepatic betaine:homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) expression in taurine-deficient mice is reversed by taurine supplementation in vivo.

The cysteine dioxygenase (Cdo1)-null and the cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (Csad)-null mouse are not able to synthesize hypotaurine/taurine by the cysteine/cysteine sulfinate pathway and have very low tissue taurine levels. These mice provide excellent models for studying the effects of taurine on biological processes. Using these mouse models, we identified betaine:homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) as a protein whose in vivo expression is robustly regulated by taurine.

Development of a novel cysteine sulfinic Acid decarboxylase knockout mouse: dietary taurine reduces neonatal mortality.

We engineered a CSAD KO mouse to investigate the physiological roles of taurine. The disruption of the CSAD gene was verified by Southern, Northern, and Western blotting. HPLC indicated an 83% decrease of taurine concentration in the plasma of CSAD(-/-).

Altered lymphocyte proliferation and innate immune function in scrapie 139A- and ME7-infected mice.

Lymphoid organs play an important role in prion disease development and progression. While the role of lymphoid organs and changes in immune-related genes have been extensively investigated in scrapie-infected animals, innate immunity has not. Previous studies examined lymphocyte function in scrapie-infected C3H/HeJ mice, which exhibit defects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) response now known to result from a mutation in Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4.

Inflammatory mediators are inhibited by a taurine metabolite in CpG oligodeoxynucleotide and IFN-r activated macrophage cell line.

Taurine plays an important role in brain and retinal development, and has an antiinflammatory and antioxidant function. Taurine chloramine (Tau-Cl) is produced in polymorphonuclear leukocytes via the myeloperoxidase/halide system. We previously demonstrated that Tau-Cl inhibits the production of nitric oxide (NO) and TNF-α in human and murine macrophages activated with IFN-γ in combination with individual Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands including those for TLR2 and/or TLR4.

Taurine chloramine inhibits NO and TNF-α production in zymosan plus interferon-γ activated RAW 264.7 cells.

Taurine is present abundantly in various tissues, especially in leukocytes embattled to foreign invaders such as microorganisms or oxidants. Taurine-chloramine (Tau-Cl) is produced from taurine at the site of inflammation via the myeloperoxidase-halide pathway in leukocytes induced by oxidants and/or infectious materials. Previously, our data demonstrated that Tau-Cl inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production and TNF-α secretion induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) ligand or lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a TLR-2 ligand plus interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in peritoneal macrophages or RAW 264.

Effect of thalidomide on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW 264.7 cells.

Thalidomide is anti-inflammatory under some conditions, yet has been reported to up-regulate Th1 (T helper 1) immunity measured by increased IL-2 (Interleukin-2) and gamma interferon. The authors have assessed the effect of thalidomide and analogues, di- and tri-thiothalidomide, on a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated macrophage cell line (RAW 246.7 cells).

Protection of bleomycin-induced fibrosis and inflammation by taurine.

Taurine has been shown to protect against lung injury induced by various oxidants including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, amiodarone, and paraquat and to protect against bleomycin-induced lung injury in combination with niacin. In this study, Spraque-Dawley rats were treated with 5% taurine in the drinking water for 10 days prior to bleomycin instillation. Fibrosis in the rats pretreated with taurine (BT) was absent, along with fewer inflammatory infiltrates compared to the untreated rats (BW).

Is Taurine A Biomarker?

Taurine, a sulfur-containing amino acid present in high concentrations in mammals, plays an important role in several essential biological processes. Taurine is not incorporated into protein and is the most abundant free amino acid in the heart, retina, skeletal muscle, brain, and leukocytes. The ideal biomarker or biological measure should be reliable, reproducible, noninvasive, simple to perform, and inexpensive.

Anti-inflammatory activity of herbal medicines: inhibition of nitric oxide production and tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion in an activated macrophage-like cell line.

Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HC), Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer (GU), Forsythia suspense (Thunb.) Vahl (FS), and Lonicera japonica Thunb.

Exposure to alcohol on E9 raises poststress corticosterone in mature but not old mice.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol alters postnatal function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Hyperresponsiveness to stress, or increased secretion of corticosterone, is a commonly studied effect in offspring of rats exposed to alcohol during a substantial period of gestation. No studies have reported on stress hormone secretion following alcohol exposure on a single day during embryonic development even though exposure at this time may damage the hypothalamus and pituitary.

Platycodin D and D3 isolated from the root of Platycodon grandiflorum modulate the production of nitric oxide and secretion of TNF-alpha in activated RAW 264.7 cells.

Platycodon D (PD) and D3 (PD3) isolated from Platycodon grandiflorum has been previously reported to show anti-inflammatory activities in rats. In this study, the production of proinflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was examined in a macrophage like cell line, RAW 264.7 cells, in the presence of PD and PD3, oligosaccharide derivatives of oleanolic acid.

Taurine and its chloramine: modulators of immunity.

Taurine is a semiessential amino acid that is not incorporated into proteins. In mammalian tissues, taurine is ubiquitous and is the most abundant free amino acid in the heart, retina, skeletal muscle, and leukocytes. Taurine reaches up to 50 mM concentration in leukocytes.

Taurine: new implications for an old amino acid.

Taurine is a semi-essential amino acid and is not incorporated into proteins. In mammalian tissues, taurine is ubiquitous and is the most abundant free amino acid in the heart, retina, skeletal muscle, brain, and leukocytes. In fact, taurine reaches up to 50 mM concentration in leukocytes.

Deficient tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in lipoarabinomannan activated macrophages from toll-like receptor-4 deficient mice: implication for mycobacterial susceptibility.

Mice with a point mutation of toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) (C3H/HeJ) are hypo-responsive to LPS and more susceptible to mycobacterial infections than their control wild type (C3H/OuJ). We have previously shown that TLR-4-deficient mice produced NO in response to the mycobacterial product, ara-lipoarabinomannan (LAM), in the presence of either Interferon-beta (IFN-beta) or Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), with a dose response curve that produced levels of NO almost as high as those observed in C3H/OuJ mice at high concentrations of ara-LAM plus either IFN-beta or-gamma. We now report that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), an important cytokine for intracellular killing of mycobacteria, remains deficient in these C3H/HeJ mice compared to C3H/OuJ mice even at a high concentration of ara-LAM with either IFN-gamma or IFN-beta.

Cloning of murine cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase and its mRNA expression in murine tissues.

Cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSD) is the rate-limiting enzyme for biosynthesis of taurine which is essential to biological processes such as development of the brain and eye, reproduction, osmoregulation as well as the anti-inflammatory activity of leukocytes. We report the cDNA sequence of murine CSD that predicts a polypeptide of 493 amino acids. This protein shares 98% and 90% of amino acids with rat and human CSD, respectively, indicating that it is a true ortholog of CSD.