Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Alerts
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Author's Takes
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Immune Environment in Glioblastoma (Feb 2023)
    • Korsmeyer Award 25th Anniversary Collection (Jan 2023)
    • Aging (Jul 2022)
    • Next-Generation Sequencing in Medicine (Jun 2022)
    • New Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Diseases (Mar 2022)
    • Immunometabolism (Jan 2022)
    • Circadian Rhythm (Oct 2021)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Commentaries
    • Research letters
    • Letters to the editor
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoint
    • Top read articles
  • Clinical Medicine
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Author's Takes
  • In-Press Preview
  • Commentaries
  • Research letters
  • Letters to the editor
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Alerts
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Liver function from Y to Z
Irwin M. Arias
Irwin M. Arias
Published August 1, 2012
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2012;122(8):2763-2764. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI64587.
View: Text | PDF
Hindsight

Liver function from Y to Z

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

In the 1960s, my lab was interested in understanding how bilirubin and other organic anions are transferred from the plasma through the liver cell and into the bile. We performed gel filtration of liver supernatants and identified two protein fractions, designated Y and Z, which bound organic anions including bilirubin, and thus we proposed that they were involved in hepatic uptake of organic anions from plasma. Subsequently, the Y and Z proteins responsible for this binding activity were purified, cloned, and sequenced. Y was identified as a member of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) protein family and Z found to be a member of the fatty acid–binding protein (FABP) family. These proteins have since been shown to have additional surprising roles, but understanding of their full role in physiology and disease has not yet been achieved.

Authors

Irwin M. Arias

×

Figure 1

In 1969, my group used gel filtration to fractionate soluble proteins from rat liver.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
In 1969, my group used gel filtration to fractionate soluble proteins fr...
The components of the Y and Z fractions have subsequently been implicated in several hepatic functions, including organic anion uptake, cell signaling, metabolism, and carcinogenesis. Reproduced from ref. 1.

Copyright © 2023 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts