No abstract

Guggulipid is an extract of the guggul tree Commiphora mukul and has been widely used to treat hyperlipidemia in humans. The plant sterol guggulsterone (GS) is the active agent in this extract. Recent studies have shown that GS can act as an antagonist ligand for farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and decrease expression of bile acid-activated genes. Here we show that GS, although an FXR antagonist in coactivator association assays, enhances FXR agonist-induced transcription of bile salt export pump (BSEP), a major hepatic bile acid transporter. In HepG2 cells, in the presence of an FXR agonist such as chenodeoxycholate or GW4064, GS enhanced endogenous BSEP expression with a maximum induction of 400 -500% that induced by an FXR agonist alone. This enhancement was also readily observed in FXR-dependent BSEP promoter activation using a luciferase reporter construct. In addition, GS alone slightly increased BSEP promoter activation in the absence of an FXR agonist. Consistent with the results in HepG2, guggulipid treatment in Fisher rats increased BSEP mRNA. Interestingly, in these animals expression of the orphan nuclear receptor SHP (small heterodimer partner), a known FXR target, was also significantly increased, whereas expression of other FXR targets including cholesterol 7␣-hydroxylase (Cyp 7a1), sterol 12␣-hydroxylase (Cyp 8b1), and the intestinal bile acidbinding protein (I-BABP), remained unchanged. Thus, we propose that GS is a selective bile acid receptor modulator that regulates expression of a subset of FXR targets. Guggulipid treatment in rats lowered serum triglyceride and raised serum high density lipoprotein levels. Taken together, these data suggest that guggulsterone defines a novel class of FXR ligands characterized by antagonist activities in coactivator association assays but with the ability to enhance the action of agonists on BSEP expression in vivo.Guggulipid is an extract of the guggul tree Commiphora mukul and has been widely used to treat hyperlipidemia in humans (1, 2). Numerous clinical trials demonstrate that guggulipid effectively lowers serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increases high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (3, 4). The plant guggulsterones E and Z (stereoisomers) in guggulipid were identified as active ingredients for lipid-lowering (5).Recent studies have shown that guggulsterone (GS) 1 is an antagonist ligand for the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and inhibited expression of FXR agonist-induced genes (6, 7). It has also been demonstrated that the hepatic lipid-lowering effect of GS was mediated through FXR using FXR knockout mice (6).FXR is a nuclear receptor for bile acids and controls expression of critical genes in bile acid and cholesterol homeostasis (8 -11). It has been shown that FXR inhibits expression of cholesterol 7␣-hydroxylase (Cyp 7a1) (12-15), sterol 12␣-hydroxylase (16), the Na ϩ /taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (17) and apolipoprotein A-I (18), and activates expression of intestinal bile acid-binding protein (I-BA...

The human multidrug resistance gene MDR3 encodes a P-glycoprotein that belongs to the ATP-binding cassette transporter family (ABCB4). MDR3 is a critical trans-locator for phospholipids across canalicular membranes of hepatocytes, evidenced by the fact that human MDR3 deficiencies result in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type III. It has been reported previously that MDR3 expression is modulated by hormones, cellular stress, and xenobiotics. Here we show that the MDR3 gene is trans-activated by the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) via a direct binding of FXR/retinoid X receptor ␣ heterodimers to a highly conserved inverted repeat element (a FXR response element) at the distal promoter (؊1970 to ؊1958). In FXR trans-activation assays, both the endogenous FXR agonist chenodeoxycholate and the synthetic agonist GW4064 activated the MDR3 promoter. Deletion or mutation of this inverted repeat element abolished FXR-mediated MDR3 promoter activation. Consistent with these data, MDR3 mRNA was significantly induced by both chenodeoxycholate and GW4064 in primary human hepatocytes in time-and dose-dependent fashions.In conclusion, we demonstrate that MDR3 expression is directly up-regulated by FXR. These results, together with the previous report that the bile salt export pump is a direct FXR target, suggest that FXR coordinately controls secretion of bile salts and phospholipids. Results of this study further support the notion that FXR is a master regulator of lipid metabolism.ATP-binding cassette (ABC) 1 transporters constitute a large family of proteins, and many have been shown to be involved in lipid transport. MDR3 (ABCB4), a P-glycoprotein, is predominantly expressed in the liver (1) and is the critical trans-locator for phospholipids across canalicular membranes of hepatocytes (2). The MDR3 function is essential for the liver as evidenced by the fact that MDR3 deficiencies in humans result in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type III (3,4). A number of factors, such as hormones, cellular stress, and xenobiotics have been shown to modulate MDR3 expression (5-7). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms for MDR3 gene regulation are unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that the bile acid receptor FXR directly regulates expression of MDR3.FXR is a nuclear receptor for bile acids and regulates expression of a number of genes in which products are critically important for bile acid and cholesterol homeostasis (8 -11). FXR functions as a heterodimer with the 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor (RXR␣) (12, 13), and the FXR/RXR␣ heterodimer activates gene transcription via binding to a specific DNA sequence comprised of two inverted hexamer repeats separated by one nucleotide (IR-1) in the target promoter. To date, there is only one reported case in which FXR down-regulates apolipoprotein A-I expression via a FXR monomer or homodimer binding to an .Previous studies (15, 16) have shown that agonist-bound FXR directly regulates expression of the bile salt export pump (BSEP), an ABC transporter (ABCB11) ...

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been previously reported as agonists of peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor and antagonists of the liver X receptor. The activities on these two nuclear receptors have been attributed to their beneficial effects such as improvement of dyslipidemia and insulin sensitivity and decrease of hepatic lipogenesis. Here we report that PUFAs are ligands of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear receptor for bile acids. In a conventional FXR binding assay, arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4), docosahexaenoic acid (DA, 22:6), and linolenic acid (LA, 18:3) had an affinity of 2.6, 1.5, and 3.5 microM, respectively. In a cell-free coactivator association assay, AA, DA, and LA decreased FXR agonist-induced FXR activation with IC(50)s ranging from 0.9 to 4.7 microM. In HepG2 cells, PUFAs regulated the expression of two FXR targets, BSEP and kininogen, in an opposite fashion, although both genes were transactivated by FXR. All three PUFAs dose-dependently enhanced FXR agonist-induced BSEP expression but decreased FXR agonist-induced human kininogen mRNA. Saturated fatty acids such as stearic acid (SA, 18:0) and palmitic acid (PA, 16:0) did not bind to FXR and did not change BSEP or kininogen expression. The pattern of BSEP and kininogen regulation by PUFAs is closely similar to that of the guggulsterone, previously reported as a selective bile acid receptor modulator. Our results suggest that PUFAs may belong to the same class of FXR ligands as guggulsterone, and that the selective regulation of FXR targets may contribute to the beneficial effects of PUFAs in lipid metabolism.

Human kininogen belongs to the plasma kallikreinkinin system. High molecular weight kininogen is the precursor for two-chain kinin-free kininogen and bradykinin. It has been shown that the two-chain kinin-free kininogen has the properties of anti-adhesion, antiplatelet aggregation, and anti-thrombosis, whereas bradykinin is a potent vasodilator and mediator of inflammation. In this study we show that the human kininogen gene is strongly up-regulated by agonists of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear receptor for bile acids. In primary human hepatocytes, both the endogenous FXR agonist chenodeoxycholate and synthetic FXR agonist GW4064 increased kininogen mRNA with a maximum induction of 8 -10-fold. A more robust induction of kininogen expression was observed in HepG2 cells, where kininogen mRNA was increased by chenodeoxycholate or GW4064 up to 130 -140-fold as shown by real time PCR. Northern blot analysis confirmed the up-regulation of kininogen expression by FXR agonists. To determine whether kininogen is a direct target of FXR, we examined the sequence of the kininogen promoter and identified a highly conserved FXR response element (inverted repeat, IR-1) in the proximity of the kininogen promoter (؊66/؊54). FXR/RXR␣ heterodimers specifically bind to this IR-1. A construct of a minimal promoter with the luciferase reporter containing this IR-1 was transactivated by FXR. Deletion or mutation of this IR-1 abolished FXR-mediated promoter activation, indicating that this IR-1 element is responsible for the promoter transactivation by FXR. We conclude that kininogen is a novel and direct target of FXR, and bile acids may play a role in the vasodilation and anti-coagulation processes.