Up to date on cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) in bile acid synthesis

Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase(CYP7A1,EC1.14)is the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the classic bile acid synthesis pathway.Much progress has been made in understanding the transcriptional regulation of CYP7A1 gene expression and the underlying molecular mechanisms of bile acid feedback regulation of CYP7A1 and bile acid synthesis in the last three decades.Discovery of bile acid-activated receptors and their roles in the regulation of lipid,glucose and energy metabolism have been translated to the development of bile acid-based drug therapies for the treatment of liver-related metabolic diseases such as alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases,liver cirrhosis,diabetes,obesity and hepatocellular carcinoma.This review will provide an update on the advances in our understanding of the molecular biology and mechanistic insights of the regulation of CYP7A1 in bile acid synthesis in the last 40 years.

Meta-analysis reveals up-regulation of cholesterol processes in non-alcoholic and down-regulation in alcoholic fatty liver disease

AIM To compare transcriptomes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease(ALD) in a meta-analysis of liver biopsies.METHODS Employing transcriptome data from patient liver biopsies retrieved from several public repositories we performed a meta-analysis comparing ALD and NAFLD.RESULTS We observed predominating commonalities at the transcriptome level between ALD and NAFLD,most prominently numerous down-regulated metabolic pathways and cytochrome-related pathways and a few up-regulated pathways which include ECM-receptor interaction,phagosome and lysosome.However some pathways were regulated in opposite directions in ALD and NAFLD,for example,glycolysis was down-regulated in ALD and up-regulated in NAFLD.Interestingly,we found rate-limiting genes such as HMGCR,SQLE and CYP7A1 which are associated with cholesterol processes adversely regulated between ALD(down-regulated) and NAFLD(up-regulated).We propose that similar phenotypes in both diseases may be due to a lower level of the enzyme CYP7A1 compared to the cholesterol synthesis enzymes HMGCR and SQLE.Additionally,we provide a compendium of comparative KEGG pathways regulation in ALD and NAFLD.CONCLUSION Our finding of adversely regulated cholesterol processes in ALD and NAFLD draws the focus to regulation of cholesterol secretion into bile.Thus,it will be interesting to further investigate CYP7A1-mediated cholesterol secretion into bile-also as possible drug targets.The list of potential novel biomarkers may assist differential diagnosis of ALD and NAFLD.

G protein-coupled receptor 35 attenuates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by reprogramming cholesterol homeostasis in hepatocytes

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide.Fat accumulation“sensitizes”the liver to insult and leads to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH).G protein-coupled receptor 35(GPR35)is involved in metabolic stresses,but its role in NAFLD is unknown.We report that hepatocyte GPR35 mitigates NASH by regulating hepatic cholesterol homeostasis.Specifically,we found that GPR35 overexpression in hepatocytes protected against high-fat/cholesterol/fructose(HFCF)diet-induced steatohepatitis,whereas loss of GPR35 had the opposite effect.Administration of the GPR35 agonist kynurenic acid(Kyna)suppressed HFCF diet-induced steatohepatitis in mice.Kyna/GPR35 induced expression of StAR-related lipid transfer protein 4(STARD4)through the ERK1/2 signaling pathway,ultimately resulting in hepatic cholesterol esterification and bile acid synthesis(BAS).The overexpression of STARD4 increased the expression of the BAS rate-limiting enzymes cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily A member 1(CYP7A1)and CYP8B1,promoting the conversion of cholesterol to bile acid.The protective effect induced by GPR35 overexpression in hepatocytes disappeared in hepatocyte STARD4-knockdown mice.STARD4 overexpression in hepatocytes reversed the aggravation of HFCF diet-induced steatohepatitis caused by the loss of GPR35 expression in hepatocytes in mice.Our findings indicate that the GPR35–STARD4 axis is a promising therapeutic target for NAFLD.

黄连碱对胆固醇代谢关键基因的调节作用

该文主要研究胆固醇和25-羟胆固醇诱导对HepG2细胞胆固醇代谢的影响和黄连中黄连碱的降胆固醇活性及调节机制。用生化法检测了总胆固醇(TC)、甘油三酯(TG)、低密度脂蛋白-胆固醇(LDL-c)和高密度脂蛋白-胆固醇(HDL-c)水平;用qRT-PCR和Western bolt技术检测了胆固醇代谢关键基因LDLR,HMGCR,CYP7A1mRNA和蛋白的表达水平。结果显示胆固醇和25-羟基胆固醇诱导能导致LDLR,CYP7A1的muRNA和蛋白的表达下降从而使TC和LDL-c含量上升。黄连碱能上调LDLR和CYP7A1的muRNA和蛋白表达水平而下调HMGCR的mRNA和蛋白表达水平,从而降低TC,LDL-c水平。这些结果表明黄连碱具有潜在的降胆固醇的药理活性,其分子机制可能是通过调节胆固醇代谢的关键基因LDLR,CYP7A1和HMGCR的mRNA和蛋白表达而达到降胆固醇的效果。该研究为开发新的具有降胆固醇活性的天然药物奠定了良好的理论基础。