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Updated: May 17, 2026

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Strong activation of bile acid-sensitive ion channel (BASIC) by ursodeoxycholic acid
Dominik Wiemuth1, Hacer Sahin, Cathérine M T Lefèvre
1Department of Physiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. dwiemuth@ukaachen.de
Abstract:
Bile acid-sensitive ion channel (BASIC) is a member of the DEG/ENaC gene family of unknown function. Rat BASIC (rBASIC) is inactive at rest. We have recently shown that cholangiocytes, the epithelial cells lining the bile ducts, are the main site of BASIC expression in the liver and identified bile acids, in particular hyo- and chenodeoxycholic acid, as agonists of rBASIC. Moreover, it seems that extracellular divalent cations stabilize the resting state of rBASIC, because removal of extracellular divalent cations opens the channel. In this addendum, we demonstrate that removal of extracellular divalent cations potentiates the activation of rBASIC by bile acids, suggesting an allosteric mechanism. Furthermore, we show that rBASIC is strongly activated by the anticholestatic bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), suggesting that BASIC might mediate part of the therapeutic effects of UDCA.
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