Chondrocytic cells express the taurine transporter on their plasma membrane and regulate its expression under anisotonic conditions.

Taurine is a small organic osmolyte which participates in cell volume regulation. Chondrocytes have been shown to accumulate and release taurine; in bone, taurine participates in bone metabolism. However, its role in skeletal cells is poorly understood, especially in chondrocytes. This study investigated the regulation of taurine transporter in chondrocytic cells. We examined the transcriptional regulation of the taurine transporter under anisotonia by reporter gene and real-time RT-PCR assays. The effect of providing supplementary taurine on cell viability was evaluated with the lactate dehydrogenase release assay. The localization of the taurine transporter in human chondrosarcoma cells was studied by overexpressing a taurine transporter-enhanced green fluorescent protein. We observed that the transcription of the taurine transporter gene was up-regulated in hypertonic conditions. Hyperosmolarity-related cell death could be partly abolished by taurine supplementation in the medium. As expected, the fluorescently labeled taurine transporter localized at the plasma membrane. In polarized epithelial MDCK cells, the strongest fluorescence signal was located in the lateral cell membrane area. We also observed that the taurine transporter gene was expressed in several human tissues and malignant cell lines. This is the first study to present information on the transcriptional regulation of taurine transporter gene and the localization of the taurine transporter protein in chondrocytic cells.