Abstract
Comparative studies of a wide variety of organisms indicate that almost all cells that are able to adapt to a high-salt environment do so by balancing the increased extracellular osmolality with high intracellular concentrations of certain organic solutes (“organic osmolytes”). The organic osmolytes fall mainly into three groups: polyols (such as sorbitol and myo-inositol), methylamines (such as glycerophosphorylcholine and betaine), and amino acids (such as taurine, glycine and proline). Cells apparently use these organic compounds to adjust their intracellular osmolality because, unlike “perturbing” solutes such as NaCl, KCl, and urea, the organic osmolytes inhibit enzymes and other cellular processes relatively little even at high concentrations (17).
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Nakanishi, T., Takamitsu, Y., Sugita, M. (1994). Role of Taurine in the Kidney: Osmoregulatory Taurine Accumulation in Renal Medulla. In: Huxtable, R.J., Michalk, D. (eds) Taurine in Health and Disease. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 359. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1471-2_15
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