New EMBO Members Review
- The EMBO Journal (2006) 25, 1419 - 1425
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601049
Published online: 16 March 2006
Subject Categories:
Endocrine functions of bile acids
Sander M Houten1,a, Mitsuhiro Watanabe2,a and Johan Auwerx2,3,4
- Laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Institut de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/ULP, Illkirch, France
- Institut Clinique de la Souris, Illkirch, France
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Générale et Spécialisée, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Correspondence to:
Johan Auwerx, Institut de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, 1 rue Laurent Fries, Parc d'Innovation, BP10142, 67404 Illkirch, France. Tel.: +33 388 653425; Fax: +33 388 653201; E-mail: auwerx@igbmc.u-strasbg.fr
aThese authors contributed equally to this work
Received 9 November 2005; Accepted 24 February 2006
Abstract
Bile acids (BAs), a group of structurally diverse molecules that are primarily synthesized in the liver from cholesterol, are the chief components of bile. Besides their well-established roles in dietary lipid absorption and cholesterol homeostasis, it has recently emerged that BAs are also signaling molecules, with systemic endocrine functions. BAs activate mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, are ligands for the G-protein-coupled receptor TGR5, and activate nuclear hormone receptors such as farnesoid X receptor 
. Through activation of these diverse signaling pathways, BAs can regulate their own enterohepatic circulation, but also triglyceride, cholesterol, energy, and glucose homeostasis. Thus, BA-controlled signaling pathways are promising novel drug targets to treat common metabolic diseases, such as obesity, type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis.
Keywords:
- bile acids,
- gene expression,
- metabolism,
- nuclear receptors,
- signaling
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