Bile Acids - Small Molecules with Great Possibilities

Bile acids are compounds with many functions in liver and other parts of gastrointestinal tract. Apart from long-known ability of bile acids to form micelles and help with both intestinal digestion and absorption of lipids, other (but not less important) properties of these molecules are still neglected. Among pleitropic effects of bile acids belong regulation of cholesterol homeostasis, antimicrobial properties and novel functions discovered in last decades. It seems that the notion of bile acids as compounds important mainly for their physico-chemical properties should be reevaluated and we have to put stress on the importance of bile acids as structures with hormonal functions. Moreover, the molecules of bile acids have unusual properties, which predetermine them for attractive drug designs, as vectors for delivery of active substances, production of chiral compounds, dendrons, or even photoresistant molecules for microcircuits.