Bile acids repurposed to tackle human disease

Learn more about how Team Harris is repurposing bile acids to solve problems.

Bile-acids
Image created by the team and featured as a Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry cover. Reproduced from Org. Biomol. Chem., 2022,20, 3511-3527 with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry

The problem

Inflammation, type-II diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s are an increasing health and well-being burden with few effective remedies.

Our solution

We have identified several enzyme targets for each disease state and have world-leading knowledge about a class of compounds that we are synthesising to provide new drug therapies.

The impact

Novel compounds were prepared that are being tested by our industry partners to treat these human diseases.

Research Team

Team Harris

Based in the Ferrier Research Institute in Gracefield, Lower Hutt, Team Harris's focus is synthetic chemistry.

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Latest publications 2023

2023
The discovery of 12β-methyl-17-epi-18-nor-bile acids as potent and selective TGR5 agonists

Luxenburger A, Harris LD, Ure EM, Jiao W, Woolhouse AD, Cameron SA, Weymouth-Wilson A, Furneaux RH, Pitman JL, Hinkley SFR

European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2023)

2022

2022
Synthesis of 12β-methyl-18-nor-avicholic acid analogues as potential TGR5 agonists

Ure EM, Harris LD, Cameron SA, Weymouth-Wilson A, Furneaux RH, Pitman JL, Hinkley SF, Luxenburger A

Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2022), pp. 3511-3527

2022
Synthesis of Novel C/D Ring Modified Bile Acids

Landaeta Aponte RA, Luxenburger A, Cameron SA, Weymouth-Wilson A, Furneaux RH, Harris LD, Compton BJ

Molecules (2022)

2021

2021
Synthesis of 12β-Methyl-18-nor-bile Acids

Luxenburger A, Harris LD, Ure EM, Landaeta Aponte RA, Woolhouse AD, Cameron SA, Ling CD, Piltz RO, Lewis AR, Gainsford GJ

ACS Omega (2021), pp. 25019-25039

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