Cardiomyocyte-expressed farnesoid-X-receptor is a novel apoptosis mediator and contributes to myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury

AimsEmerging evidence indicates that nuclear receptors play a critical regulatory role in cardiovascular physiology/pathology. Recently, farnesoid-X-receptor (FXR), a member of the metabolic nuclear receptor superfamily, has been demonstrated to be expressed in vascular cells, with important roles in vascular physiology/pathology. However, the potential cardiac function of FXR remains unclear. We investigated the cardiac expression and biological function of FXR.