Progress in research of taurine and synaptic plasticity
牛磺酸与突触可塑性研究进展

Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the mammalian central nervous system and has many putative neurophysiological functions. Recent studies demonstrate that taurine perfusion induces long-lasting potentiation of excitatory synaptic transmission in brain slice. Although taurine-induced long-lasting potentiation does not result from neuronal activities or experience, it has some similarities in cellular mechanisms to long-term potentiation which reflects the synaptic plasticity. Further pharmacological studies suggest that taurine uptake is a key step for the induction of long-term potentiation.