Volume 32, No 5, May 2022

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 32 Issue 5, May 2022: 501-504

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Structures of human bile acid exporter ABCB11 reveal a transport mechanism facilitated by two tandem substrate-binding pockets

Liang Wang^1,2,† , Wen-Tao Hou^1,2,†,* , Jie Wang^1,2 , Da Xu^1,2 , Cong Guo^1,2 , Linfeng Sun^1,2 , Ke Ruan^1,2 , Cong-Zhao Zhou^1,2,* , Yuxing Chen^1,2,*

¹The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
²School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
^†These authors contributed equally: Liang Wang, WenTao Hou
Correspondence: Wen-Tao Hou(todvince@mail.ustc.edu.cn)Cong-Zhao Zhou(zcz@ustc.edu.cn)Yuxing Chen(cyxing@ustc.edu.cn)

Dear Editor,

Bile acids are a group of cholesterol-derived physiological surfactants required for digestion of lipids and fat-soluble vitamins.1 However, excess of bile acids is detrimental to metabolic homeostasis and bile acid imbalance can contribute to cancer progression.2 Bile acids are produced primarily in the liver and then secreted to the bile duct before delivery to the small intestine,3 where up to 95% of bile acids are reabsorbed and recirculated to the liver (Supplementary information, Fig. S1a). The primary bile acids are biosynthesized in hepatocytes via oxidation of cholesterol and modified by either taurine or glycine,4 forming the conjugated primary bile acids which harbor a cholic acid moiety and a taurine/glycine moiety (Supplementary information, Fig. S1b). This enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is driven by a series of transmembrane transporters (Supplementary information, Fig. S1a), including the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB11 (also termed bile salt export pump BSEP).5

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-021-00611-9

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