Taurine, hypotaurine, and GABA uptake by cultured neuroblastoma cells.

Uptake of [3H]taurine, [35S]hypotaurine, and [3H] gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was studied in neuroblastoma C1300 cells in Krebs-Ringer-Hepes-glucose medium (pH 7.4). The uptakes consisted of nonsaturable penetration (taurine and hypotaurine) and two saturable transport components: high affinity for taurine, hypotaurine, and GABA and low affinity for hypotaurine and GABA. The affinity of the high-affinity uptake was highest for hypotaurine but the transport capacity was greatest for taurine. GABA uptake was almost abolished by taurine and hypotaurine. Hypotaurine also strongly inhibited taurine uptake, whereas GABA had only a moderate inhibitory effect on taurine and hypotaurine uptakes. The mutual inhibition suggests that these amino acids use the same transport sites when entering the cells.