Figure 1).

Relationship between cellular taurine content and apoptosis. Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were incubated for various time intervals, in a medium containing the taurine transport inhibitor beta-alanine (5 mM). At each time interval, some cells were harvested and examined for taurine content. The number of apoptotic cells was also examined in other cell preparations. Cells incubated for 48 h with the normal medium contained identical taurine levels to cells forgoing the 48 h incubation (the zero-point control). Values shown represent the mean ± SEM of four to five different cell preparations. *Significant difference between the control (zero time point) and the beta-alanine-treated group (P<0.05)