| Popis: |
Taurine, 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is essential for the development and survival of mammalian cells, in particular cells of the cerebellum and retina (Sturman, 1988). Taurine is the second most abundant free amino acid in mammals; its concentration in the CNS reaches the millimolar range. The highest concentration of taurine occurs in newborn and early postnatal brain, suggesting a role during development. In fact, two lines of evidence strongly suggest the importance of taurine in early postnatal cerebellar development of cat and mouse. Female cats raised on a taurine-deficient diet produce offspring with severe brain abnormalities (Sturman et al., 1985). Morphological analysis of cerebella of 8-week-old taurine-deficient kittens revealed the presence of an external granule cell layer and many granule cells still in the process of migrating to the internal granule cell layer. Furthermore, some granule cells in the external layer were still dividing. These observations of perturbed granule cell migration were accompanied by greatly reduced cerebellar taurine concentrations. |
