Byron Kemper

Jun 3, 2024 | digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu | Byron Kemper |Jinjing Chen |Ruoyu Wang |Feng Xiong

The nuclear receptor, farnesoid X receptor (FXR/NR1H4), is increasingly recognized as a promising drug target for metabolic diseases, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Protein-coding genes regulated by FXR are well known, but whether FXR also acts through regulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which vastly outnumber protein-coding genes, remains unknown.

Apr 15, 2024 | elifesciences.org | Byron Kemper |Jinjing Chen |Ruoyu Wang |Feng Xiong

eLife assessment Using unbiased transcriptional profiling, the study reports a fundamental discovery of FincoR, a novel hepatic lncRNA generated from an enhancer element, which plays a role in FXR biology. The convincing findings have therapeutic implications in the treatment of MASH. The authors use state-of-the-art methodology and use unbiased transcriptomic profiling and epigenetic profiling, including validation in mouse models and human samples.