Beta-alanine uptake is not a marker for brain astroglia in culture.

The properties of the beta amino acid transport system were examined in cultivated rat brain astrocytes, using the specific probe, beta-alanine. The uptake of beta-alanine is thought to be glial specific. Beta-alanine was not actively transported and the intracellular accumulation was not altered by coincubation with GABA, alanine, glutamate, or methionine. We suggested therefore that beta-alanine is passively taken up by a mechanism distinct from the transport system for GABA.