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It has become an annual custom for the Physiological Society of Philadel phia to sponsor a spring symposium in honor of A. N. Richards (876-1966), a research pharmacologist who developed the classical micropuncture tech nique for studying kidney function. The A. N. Richards Symposium for 1979 was held on April 23-24 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The theme of this symposium was "The Actions of Taurine on Excitable Tissues." Although taurine was discovered as a constituent of bile salts in 1857 by a chemist and an anatomist (Gmelin and Tiedemann), interest today centers chiefly on the extrahepatic actions of taurine, especially in brain, heart, and other excitable tissues. Research on taurine is clearly in a period of exponential growth. We can be sure that the research reports presented and described herein as the "Proceedings of the Symposium" will provide impetus for further growth. Thus the report describing macromolecular receptors for taurine in myocardial sarcolemma may provide a model for exploring the molecular mechanisms that underlie the action(s) of taurine. Stabilization of mem branes and modulation of ion fluxes are two fundamental actions of taurine dealt with in many of these reports. It is just these actions of taurine that have been reported by several investigators as being involved in human myotonia, diabetes, and heart failure.
List of contents
I-Metabolism and Function of Taurine Analogues.- 1. Cysteine Dioxygenase and Its Possible Role on Taurine Formation in Rats.- 2. Uptake and Metabolism of Cysteine in Rat Brain.- 3. Biological Effects of Gamma G-Glutamyl Taurine (Glutaurine): A New Parathyroid Hormone.- 4. Inhibition of Taurocyamine (Guanidinotaurine)-induced Seizures by Taurine.- 5. Properties of Hypotaurine Uptake in Mouse Brain Slices.- 6. Cephalopod Nerve as a Model System for the Study of the Metabolism of Taurine and Related Sulfur Compounds.- Discussion.- II-Actions of Taurine in the Central Nervous System.- 7. Effect of Kainic Acid Lesions on Taurine Transport into Rat Brain Synaptosomes.- 8. High Affinity Taurine Uptake in Human Blood Platelets.- 9. Uptake and Stimulated Release of Taurine by Preparations of Cerebral Cortex.- 10. Function and Regulation of Taurine in the Pineal Gland.- 11. Enrichment of Taurine in Synaptosomes and Synaptic Vesicles of Bovine Brain Regions.- 12. Subcellular Distribution of Intracerebraly Injected Taurine and Certain Other Amino Acids in Mouse Brain.- 13. Taurine in the Retina.- 14. The Effect of Taurine on 45Calcium Transport by Retinal Subcellular Fractions.- 15. Taurine in Retinas of Taurine-deficient Cats and RCS Rats.- 16. Axonal Transport of Taurine.- Discussion.- III-Actions of Taurine in the Cardiovascular System.- 17. Methods of Reducing Tissue Taurine Levels.- 18. Rapid Depletion of Tissue Taurine Content by Guanidinoethyl Sulfonate.- 19. Accumulation of Taurine by Isolated Rat Heart Cells and Rat Heart Slices.- 20. The Role of Taurine Receptors in the Heart.- 21. Subcellular Effects of Taurine on Guinea Pig Heart.- 22. Effects of Taurine on Subcellular Calcium Dynamics in the Normal and Cardiomyopathic Hamster Heart.- 23. Cardiovascular Actions ofTaurine, ?-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), and ?-Amino-ß-hydroxybutyric Acid (GABOB) after Chemical Denervation.- Discussion.- IV-Clinical Implications of Taurine.- 24. Taurine: A Sulfur-containing Amino Acid Possibly Important for Maintaining Cellular Integrity.- 25. Taurine Treatment of Human Myotonia: In Vivo Study of the Correlations between Taurine and Transmembrane Ion Fluxes.- 26. Taurine: Significance in Human Nutrition.- 27. Pathophysiological Role of Taurine in Blood Pressure Regulation in Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR).- 28. Factors that Modify the Tissue Concentration or Metabolism of Taurine.- 29. Taurine and Myocardial Ischemia.- Discussion.
