Abstract
An ethanol extract from sesame seeds inhibited the taurine uptake in human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. The uptake of such α-amino acids as leucine and glutamic acid was not inhibited by the extract, indicating that this inhibition is specific to the taurine uptake. The unknown inhibitor in the sesame extract was purified by reversed-phase HPLC by monitoring the inhibitory effect on taurine uptake. The isolated substance was identified as lysophosphatidylcholine, linoleoyl (Lyso-PC), by NMR and MS analysis. Lyso-PC inhibited the taurine uptake in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of approximately 200 μM. Although Lyso-PC is known to be a surface active and cell lytic compound, neither damage nor loss of integrity of the Caco-2 cell monolayer was apparent after treating with 200 μM Lyso-PC. Inhibition was observed by incubating cells with Lyso-PC for only 1 min prior to the uptake experiments. These results suggest the direct effect of Lyso-PC on the cell membrane to be the main mechanism for this inhibition. Lyso-PC may play a role in the regulation of certain intestinal transporters.
