Amino acids and cell regulation

Free amino play an important role in regulating cell volume in fishes. Four tissues/cells (skeletal muscle, RBC, brain, and myocardium) of the little skate, Raja erinacea, were selected for detailed study because of their special importance or unique advantage as experimental models. Three particular amino acids, beta-alanine, taurine, and sarcosine play a predominant role in all four tissues. As in higher vertebrates, amino acid uptake in skate brain, heart, and RBC is mediated via a Na+-dependent process. Amino acids leave the skate brain rapidly in response to a sudden decrease in plasma osmolality and/or to a simultaneous drop in extracellular Na+ concentration. However, although amino acids are important for volume regulation in normal brain cells, they do not appear to be likely candidates for the unidentified "idiogenic" osmolytes in mammalian brain cells. The high concentration of taurine in skate myocardium is of special interest because of the special role of this amino acid in myocardial contractility. Thus, unlike beta-alanine and sarcosine, taurine may play a dual role in regulating both cell volume and contractility of myocardial cells. The isolated skate atrium is well suited for in vitro studies of these two processes.