Publications

• Function of taurine transporter (Slc6a6/TauT) as a GABA transporting protein and its relevance to GABA transport in rat retinal capillary endothelial cells.

  Tomi M., Tajima A., Tachikawa M., Hosoya K.

  The purpose of this study was to identify the uptake mechanism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) via taurine transporter (Slc6a6/TauT) and its relationship with GABA transport at the inner BRB. Rat Slc6a6/TauT-transfected HeLa cells exhibited Na(+)-, Cl(-)-, and concentration-dependent [3H]GABA up ... >> More

  The purpose of this study was to identify the uptake mechanism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) via taurine transporter (Slc6a6/TauT) and its relationship with GABA transport at the inner BRB. Rat Slc6a6/TauT-transfected HeLa cells exhibited Na(+)-, Cl(-)-, and concentration-dependent [3H]GABA uptake with a Km of 1.5 mM. Taurine, beta-alanine, and GABA markedly inhibited Slc6a6/TauT-mediated uptake of [3H]GABA. The uptake of [3H]GABA by a conditionally immortalized rat retinal capillary endothelial cell line (TR-iBRB2) was Na(+)-, Cl(-)-, and concentration-dependent with a Km of 2.0 mM. This process was more potently inhibited by substrates of Slc6a6/TauT, taurine and beta-alanine, than those of GABA transporters, GABA and betaine. In the presence of taurine, there was competitive inhibition with a Ki of 74 microM. [3H]Taurine also exhibited competitive inhibition with a Ki of 1.8 mM in the presence of GABA. In conclusion, rat Slc6a6/TauT has the ability to use GABA as a substrate and Slc6a6/TauT-mediated GABA transport appears to be present at the inner BRB. << Less

  Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1778:2138-2142(2008) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Identification and selective inhibition of the channel mode of the neuronal GABA transporter 1.

  Krause S., Schwarz W.

  The function of GAT1, the transporter for the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, is characterized by expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes and measurements of GABA-induced uptake of [3H]GABA, 22Na+, and 36Cl-, and GABA-evoked currents under voltage-clamp conditions. N-[4,4-Diphenyl-3-butenyl]-nipeco ... >> More

  The function of GAT1, the transporter for the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, is characterized by expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes and measurements of GABA-induced uptake of [3H]GABA, 22Na+, and 36Cl-, and GABA-evoked currents under voltage-clamp conditions. N-[4,4-Diphenyl-3-butenyl]-nipecotic acid (SKF-89976-A), a specific inhibitor of GAT1, is used in our system as a pharmacological tool. The GABA-evoked current can be decomposed into a transport current, which is coupled to the GABA uptake, and a transmitter-gated current, which is uncoupled from the GABA uptake. The transport current results from a fixed stoichiometry of 1 GABA/2 Na+/1 Cl-transported during each cycle, as determined by radioactive tracer flux measurements. The transmitter-gated current is mediated by an Na+-conductance pathway. As a competitive inhibitor for GABA uptake, SKF-89976-A can separate the two current components. The GABA uptake is blocked with a K(I) value of approximately 7 microM, whereas the uncoupled transmitter-gated current is inhibited with a K(I) value of approximately 0.03 microM. Thus, the results of this study not only identify the transport mode and the channel mode of GAT1 but also raise the possibility of separating these components in a physiological environment. << Less

  Mol. Pharmacol. 68:1728-1735(2005) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Nonvesicular inhibitory neurotransmission via reversal of the GABA transporter GAT-1.

  Wu Y., Wang W., Diez-Sampedro A., Richerson G.B.

  GABA transporters play an important but poorly understood role in neuronal inhibition. They can reverse, but this is widely thought to occur only under pathological conditions. Here we use a heterologous expression system to show that the reversal potential of GAT-1 under physiologically relevant ... >> More

  GABA transporters play an important but poorly understood role in neuronal inhibition. They can reverse, but this is widely thought to occur only under pathological conditions. Here we use a heterologous expression system to show that the reversal potential of GAT-1 under physiologically relevant conditions is near the normal resting potential of neurons and that reversal can occur rapidly enough to release GABA during simulated action potentials. We then use paired recordings from cultured hippocampal neurons and show that GABAergic transmission is not prevented by four methods widely used to block vesicular release. This nonvesicular neurotransmission was potently blocked by GAT-1 antagonists and was enhanced by agents that increase cytosolic [GABA] or [Na(+)] (which would increase GAT-1 reversal). We conclude that GAT-1 regulates tonic inhibition by clamping ambient [GABA] at a level high enough to activate high-affinity GABA(A) receptors and that transporter-mediated GABA release can contribute to phasic inhibition. << Less

  Neuron 56:851-865(2007) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Amino acid residues involved in the substrate specificity of TauT/SLC6A6 for taurine and gamma-aminobutyric acid.

  Yahara T., Tachikawa M., Akanuma S., Kubo Y., Hosoya K.

  Taurine transporter (TauT/SLC6A6) is an "honorary" γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter because of its low affinity for GABA. The sequence analysis of TauT implied the role of Gly57, Phe58, Leu306 and Glu406 in the substrate recognition of TauT, and amino acid-substitutions were performed. Immun ... >> More

  Taurine transporter (TauT/SLC6A6) is an "honorary" γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter because of its low affinity for GABA. The sequence analysis of TauT implied the role of Gly57, Phe58, Leu306 and Glu406 in the substrate recognition of TauT, and amino acid-substitutions were performed. Immunocytochemistry supported no marked effect of mutations on the expression of TauT. TauT-expressing oocytes showed a reduction in [(3)H]taurine uptake by G57E, F58I, L306Q and E406C, and change in [(3)H]GABA uptake by G57E and E406C, suggesting their significant roles in the function of TauT. G57E lost the activity of [(3)H]taurine and [(3)H]GABA uptake, suggesting that Gly57 is involved in the determination of substrate pocket volume and in the interaction with substrates. E406C exhibited a decrease and an increase in the affinity for taurine and GABA, respectively, suggesting the involvement of Glu406 in the substrate specificity of TauT. The inhibition study supported the role of Glu406 in the substrate specificity since [(3)H]taurine and [(3)H]GABA uptake by E406C was less sensitive to taurine and β-alanine, and more sensitive to GABA and nipecotic acid than was the case with wild type of TauT. F58I had an increased affinity for GABA, suggesting the involvement of Phe58 in the substrate accessibility. The kinetic parameters showed the decreased and increased affinities of L306Q for taurine and GABA, respectively, supporting that substrate recognition of TauT is conformationally regulated by the branched-side chain of Leu306. In conclusion, the present results suggest that these residues play important roles in the transport function and substrate specificity of TauT. << Less

  Biol Pharm Bull 37:817-825(2014) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Functional characterization and chromosomal localization of a cloned taurine transporter from human placenta.

  Ramamoorthy S., Leibach F.H., Mahesh V.B., Han H., Yang-Feng T., Blakely R.D., Ganapathy V.

  A cDNA clone highly related to the rat brain taurine transporter has been isolated from a human placental cDNA library. Transfection of this cDNA into HeLa cells results in a marked elevation of taurine transport activity. The activity of the cDNA-induced transporter is dependent on the presence o ... >> More

  A cDNA clone highly related to the rat brain taurine transporter has been isolated from a human placental cDNA library. Transfection of this cDNA into HeLa cells results in a marked elevation of taurine transport activity. The activity of the cDNA-induced transporter is dependent on the presence of Na+ as well as Cl-. The Na+/Cl-/taurine stoichiometry for the cloned transporter is 2:1:1. The transporter is specific for taurine and other beta-amino acids, including beta-alanine, and exhibits high affinity for taurine (Michaelis-Menten constant approximately 6 microM). The clone consists of a coding region 1863 bp long (including the termination codon), flanked by a 376 bp-long 5' non-coding region and a 625 bp-long 3' non-coding region. The nucleotide sequence of the coding region predicts a 620-amino acid protein with a calculated M(r) of 69,853. Northern-blot analysis of poly(A)+ RNA from several human tissues indicates a complex expression pattern differing across tissues. The principal transcript, 6.9 kb in size, is expressed abundantly in placenta and skeletal muscle, at intermediate levels in heart, brain, lung, kidney and pancreas and at low levels in liver. Cultured human cell lines derived from placenta (JAR and BeWo), intestine (HT-29), cervix (HeLa) and retinal pigment epithelium (HRPE), which are known to possess Na(+)- and Cl(-)-coupled taurine transport activity, also contain the 6.9 kb transcript. Somatic cell hybrid and in situ hybridization studies indicate that the cloned taurine transporter is localized to human chromosome 3 p24-->p26. << Less

  Biochem. J. 300:893-900(1994) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 3 other entries.