On May 13, 2024, a team of researchers from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, collaborated with scientists from Guangxi University, published a research paper titled "Suppressing FXR promotes antiviral effects of bile acids via enhancing the interferon transcription" in Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (impact factor: 14.5). This study found that the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) inhibits interferon signaling, which limits the antiviral efficacy of the bile acid metabolite chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA).
Bile acids, notably chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), have shown promise as antiviral agents. However, their clinical use has been limited due to challenges like incomplete understanding of their receptors and signaling pathways, and their reduced efficacy against viruses. Recent research highlights the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) as a key factor. FXR, CDCA's receptor, negatively regulates interferon signaling, weakening CDCA's ability to combat viral replication. Inhibiting FXR enhances CDCA's antiviral effectiveness, offering a potential strategy to improve its clinical application as an antiviral drug. This discovery opens new avenues for leveraging bile acid metabolites in antiviral therapy, tapping into the body's natural metabolic processes for enhanced efficacy against viral infections.
In conjunction with the research study, the plasmids of protein mutants were generated using a site-directed mutagenesis kit from SBS Genetech. Since 2000, SBS Genetech has been at the forefront of providing solutions in life sciences. We offer safer, superior quality, and more cost-effective products to preeminent researchers in more than 60 countries, empowering them to make new discoveries in biology. Our products have been widely utilized in academic research, with results often published in leading academic journals like Science, Cell, Cancer Cell, and Cell Metabolism. We firmly believe that through continuous innovation and research, we will continually infuse new vitality and possibilities into the field of life sciences.