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April 17, 2026
2025 Louis V. Busse Lecture
(ALL-DIVISION COLLOQUIUM)
- Dean Peter Swaan, PhD
- University of Florida
Co-evolution of Bile Acid Transporters and their Substrates
This presentation explores the co-evolution of bile acids and their transporters, highlighting how structural diversity in bile acids has driven transporter specialization across species. Bile acids are essential for lipid digestion and metabolic regulation, and their recycling depends on transporters such as ASBT in the ileum. Studies on bacterial homologs of ASBT challenge existing structural models and raise questions about the evolutionary origins of bile acid transport. Comparative analyses show that higher organisms evolved broader substrate recognition, supporting a directional co-evolution of substrates and transport systems. Emerging structural and regulatory insights, including post-translational modifications, reveal added complexity and have important implications for diseases such as cholestasis and metabolic disorders.
About the Speaker:
Peter W. Swaan, MPharm, PhD, FAAPS is Dean and Professor at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Prior to his role as Dean he was Distinguished University Professor, Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Maryland. Dr. Swaan has published over 150 articles focusing on all aspects of transport proteins in drug targeting and delivery, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and innovative methods for drug delivery, with a special emphasis on nanotechnology platforms aimed at increasing oral drug bioavailability. His major research contributions involve the application of transporters as targets for prodrugs; additionally, Dr. Swaan pioneered the application of computational and AI techniques to determining structural requirements of membrane transporters, thereby paving the way for the rational discovery of novel substrates and inhibitors.
Hosted by Mel de Villiers