hypotaurine
Sign in to saveAlso known as Cystaminesulfinic acid, 2-Aminoethanesulfinate, 2-Aminoethylsulfinate, 2-aminoethane-1-sulfinic acid, Cystaminesulfinate, 2-Aminoethylsulfinic acid, 2-Amino-Ethanesulfinate, 2-Amino-Ethanesulfinic acid
Hypotaurine is a sulfinic acid that is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of taurine. Like taurine, it also acts as an endogenous neurotransmitter via action on the glycine receptors. It is an osmolyte with antioxidant properties.
Research
1,249 papers- Hypotaurine Reduces Glucose-Mediated Vascular Calcification.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2025
- Role of Hypotaurine in Protection against UVA-Induced Damage in Keratinocytes.Photochemistry and photobiology · 2021
- Hamster spermatozoa incorporate hypotaurine via TauT for self-protection.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024
- Multiple sclerosis patients exhibit oral dysbiosis with decreased early colonizers and lower hypotaurine level.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025
- ADO/hypotaurine: a novel metabolic pathway contributing to glioblastoma development.Cell death discovery · 2021
via PubMed
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Encyclopedic overview
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Hypotaurine is a sulfinic acid that is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of taurine. Like taurine, it also acts as an endogenous neurotransmitter via action on the glycine receptors. It is an osmolyte with antioxidant properties.
Hypotaurine is derived from cysteine (and homocysteine). In mammals, the biosynthesis of hypotaurine from cysteine occurs in the pancreas. In the cysteine sulfinic acid pathway, cysteine is first oxidized to its sulfinic acid, catalyzed by the enzyme cysteine dioxygenase. Cysteine sulfinic acid, in turn, is decarboxylated by sulfinoalanine decarboxylase to form hypotaurine. Hypotaurine is enzymatically oxidized to yield taurine by hypotaurine dehydrogenase.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “hypotaurine” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.