Ligand-binding domain of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) had the highest sensitivity and activity among FXR variants in a fluorescence-based assay.

The farnesoid X receptor (FXR, NR1H4) has been recognized as an attractive therapeutic target because it is a nuclear hormone receptor that controls the expression level of cholesterol-7alpha-hydroxylase, which in turn regulates bile acid production and cholesterol excretion. To compare receptor activity between each domain and the full-length protein, human FXR cDNA was cloned from a human liver cDNA library. Three human FXR cDNA, designated FXR20, FXR33, and FXR53 cDNA, were subcloned and ligated into a pET28a expression vector. Each protein was expressed in Escherichia coli (BL21) and purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid column chromatography. Approximately 5 mg of FXR33 (1-182 amino acids deleted from FXR, 37 kDa) and 2 mg of FXR53 (the full-length protein of FXR, 59 kDa) was purified from 1 L of Luria-Bertani culture, achieving at least 90% purity. The coactivator recruitment assay for FXR activation was carried out with the three variants of the FXR protein by using dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluoroimmunoassay-europium-N1-labeled anti-His antibody. From an optimized assay, a saturated hyperbolic fluorescence signal curve was produced when 250 nM of FXR33 and 100 nM of steroid receptor coactivator-1 peptide, a coactivator of FXR consisting of 26 amino acids, were used with a concentration dependence on chenodeoxycholic acid (from 0 to 200 microM). The ligand-binding domain of FXR (FXR33) was the most suitable protein for studying the activation of FXR with a fluorescence-based assay, because it showed better structural stability than either the full length of FXR (FXR53) or the DNA-binding domain of FXR (FXR20).