Sodium/bile acid cotransporter also known as the Na

Sodium

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...

⁺-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) or liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

 bile acid

Bile acid

Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals. Bile salts are bile acids compounded with a cation, usually sodium. In humans, the salts of taurocholic acid and glycocholic acid represent approximately eighty percent of all bile salts. The two major bile acids are cholic...

 transporter (LBAT) is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 that in humans is encoded by the SLC10A1 (solute carrier family 10 member 1) gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

Function

Sodium/bile acid cotransporters are integral membrane glycoproteins that participate in the enterohepatic circulation of bile acid

Bile acid

Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals. Bile salts are bile acids compounded with a cation, usually sodium. In humans, the salts of taurocholic acid and glycocholic acid represent approximately eighty percent of all bile salts. The two major bile acids are cholic...

s. Two homologous transporters are involved in the reabsorption of bile acids, one absorbing from the intestinal lumen, the bile duct, and the kidney with an apical localization (SLC10A2

SLC10A2

Ileal sodium/bile acid cotransporter also known as ileal sodium-dependent bile acid transporter is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC10A2 gene.-Further reading:...

), and the other being found in the basolateral membranes of hepatocytes (SLC10A1; this protein).

Further reading