PHYSICAL AND STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF TAURINE AND TAURINE ANALOGS

In a variety of mammalian species it has been established that taurine is a necessary component of the visual system, however, the exact mec hanism(s) as to the function of taurine is(are) elusive. Additionally, taurine is speculated to be a membrane stabilizer by interacting with phospholipids and a regulator of protein phosphorylation. Therefore t he inhibition by taurine and taurine analogues of the phosphorylation of an similar to 20kDa protein present in the mitochondrial fraction o f the rat retina has been investigated using computational methods. Co rrelations between molecular weight, molecular volume, and calculated pKa values vs. IC50 values are reported. These data appear to support the hypotheses according to Lombardini and Props that the inhibition o f the phosphorylation of an similar to 20kDa protein by taurine and ta urine analogues is dependent on (i) the critical distance between the nitrogen and sulfur atoms in the taurine moiety (S-C-C-N) of the analo gue; (ii) the environment of the nitrogen atom in the taurine analogue (saturated ring vs. unsaturated ring); and (iii) the placement of bot h the sulfur and nitrogen atoms not being present simultaneously in th e ring structure. Using computational methods we present results that support hypotheses (i) and (ii).