Effect of taurine and apical potassium concentration on electrophysiologic parameters of bovine retinal pigment epithelium

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of taurine and apical potassium concentration modelling in vivo light evoked changes on the transepithelial potential (TEP) and the transepithelial resistance (TER) of isolated bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).Isolated specimens of bovine non-tapetal RPE-Bruch's-choroid (RPE-BC) were mounted in modified Ussing chambers. The apical and the basolateral side of the preparations were exposed to 10 mm and 10 μm concentrations of taurine in Krebs' medium with either 6.04 or 2.2 mm potassium in the apical compartment. TEP and TER were recorded over 140 min.TEP and TER decreased with exposure to taurine over the course of 1 hr followed by a stabilisation. The degree of this response did not depend on the concentration of taurine but was more pronounced when taurine was added to the apical compartment. Lowering apical potassium from 6.04 to 2.2 mm further pronounced the decrease of TEP and TER.The data show that light-induced release of taurine from the outer retina and light-induced decrease of the potassium concentration in the subretinal space synergistically lead to a temporary decrease in TEP and TER. Thereby, taurine uptake into the RPE is reduced probably by a reduction of the activity of the electrogenic Na+/taurine co-transporter of the apical RPE cell membrane. The findings suggest a mechanism whereby the sustained presence of taurine in the interphotoreceptor matrix following exposure to light may protect photoreceptor outer segments from light-induced oxidative stress.