Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 14, Issue 19, 2014

The modulation of FXR receptor remains an attractive area in drug discovery to develop novel therapeutic opportunities for liver and metabolic disorders. Despite the large variety of FXR ligands reported so far, only a very restricted number of agonists have entered in clinical settings. In this review article we provide the reader with an overview on the different classes of natural and synthetic ligands that have been developed Read More

The Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) was recently validated in clinical studies using the bile acid analogue Obeticholic Acid (OCA) as an attractive drug target for liver diseases such as Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) or Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). OCA, however, turned out to induce cholesterol- related side effects upon prolonged treatment and it shows bile acid like pharmacokinetics. The quest for synthetic non-ster Read More

Bile acids are a peculiar class of steroidal compounds that never cease to amaze. From being simple detergents with a primary role in aiding the absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins, bile acids are now widely considered as crucial hormones endowed with genomic and non-genomic functions that are mediated by their interaction with several proteins including the nuclear receptor Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR). Taking Read More

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR, NR1H4), a nuclear receptor (NR) highly expressed in the liver, intestine, kidney, adrenal glands and other cholesterol-rich tissues, functions as the master regulator for bile acid homeostasis. FXR, which regulates the expression of genes encoding proteins involved in cholesterol homeostasis, plays an essential role in regulating cholesterol, lipid, and glucose metabolism. Recently, some FXR agonists ar Read More

The nuclear bile acid sensor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) constitutes a rising target for the treatment of a variety of diseases including metabolic disorders, inflammation and certain forms of cancer. While the research on FXR agonists has yielded many compounds and first clinical candidates, only few FXR antagonists have been discovered so far and the knowledge about their in vivo effects is quite narrow. We have evaluated Read More