BILE ACID TRANSPORTERS

Bile acids are cholesterol-derived detergent molecules critical for the digestion of lipophilic nutrients. Bile acid homeostasis is tightly regulated by specific uptake and efflux transport proteins that direct the efficient recycling of bile acids in the enterohepatic circulation. The present chapter highlights regulatory mechanisms and the clinical relevance of four key hepatobiliary and intestinal bile acid transporters in the enterohepatic circulation, namely, the basolateral efflux pump (BSEP; ABCB11 ), the sodium/taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP; SLC10A1 ), the apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT; S LC10A2 ), and the heterodimeric organic solute transporter alpha and beta (OSTα-OSTβ; SLC51A/SLC51B ).