Chinese scientists reveal the transport mechanism of key bile acid transport proteins for the first time

The team led by Jiang Daohua from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences / National Research Center for Condensed Matter Physics in Beijing, in collaboration with the team of Lei Xiaoguang from Peking University and several other institutions, has reconstructed the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of the bile acid transporter OSTα/β (Organic solute transporter, composed of α and β subunits) based on prior accumulated experience and technology. This study reveals for the first time the novel assembly mode and transport mechanism of OSTα/β. As a key transporter of bile acids, OSTα/β is responsible for pumping reabsorbed bile acids from intestinal cells into the portal vein blood returning to the liver during the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids, and it can transport bile acids and sterols bidirectionally. The related results have been published online in the international academic journal "Nature." (Xinhua News Agency)