Farnesoid X receptor, the bile acid sensing nuclear receptor, in liver regeneration

The liver is unique in regenerative potential, which could recover the lost mass and function after injury from ischemia and resection. The underlying molecular mechanisms of liver regeneration have been extensively studied in the past using the partial hepatectomy (PH) model in rodents, where 2/3 PH is carried out by removing two lobes. The whole process of liver regeneration is complicated, orchestrated event involving a network of connected interactions, which still remain fully elusive. Bile acids (BAs) are ligands of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear receptor of hgand-activated transcription factor. FXR has been shown to be highly involved in liver regeneration. BAs and FXR not only interact with each other hut also regulate various downstream targets independently during liver regeneration. Moreover, recent findings suggest that tissue-specific FXR also contributes to liver regeneration significantly. These novel findings suggest that FAR has much broader role than regulating BA, cholesterol, lipid and glucose metabolism. Therefore, these researches highlight FXR as an important pharmaceutical target for potential use of FXR ligands to regulate liver regeneration in clinic. This review focuses on the roles of BAs and FXR in liver regeneration and the current underlying molecular mechanisms which contribute to liver regeneration. (C) 2015 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.