THE COMPONENTS OF TAURINE TRANSPORT ACROSS THE RAT SMALL-INTESTINE - A KINETIC-STUDY

The transport of taurine across adult Sprague-Dawley rat small intesti ne was studied in vitro using small intestinal strips. The kinetics of the transport mechanism were investigated under both steady-state and influx conditions. Our findings were compatible with the presence of two distinct transport mechanisms; a linear non-carrier mediated compo nent and a saturable carrier mediated component, with almost equal con tribution from each. The mediated component was found to be largely Na +-dependent and exhibited marked inhibition by B-alanine and structura lly related sulfur amino acids.