Identification and purification of a 36 kDa bile acid binder in human hepatic cytosol

We recently purified two closely related 33 kDa proteins from rat hepatic cytosol, designated bile acid binder I and II, which selectively bind bile acids with comparable affinity as glutathione S-transferase B. This work has now been extended to human liver in which we have identified a similar cytosolic binding activity in the 30-40 kDa fraction from gel filtration. Subsequent chromatofocusing and hydroxyapatite chromatography resulted in the isolation of a homogeneous monomeric protein of 36 kDa. The binding affinity of this protein for lithocholate using the displacement of 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) was 0.1 microM, whereas human hepatic glutathione S-transferases purified from glutathione affinity chromatography demonstrated no competitive displacement of ANS.