Mimicry of Microbially-Derived Butyrate Reveals Templates for Potent Intestinal Epithelial HIF Stabilizers

Investigators explored metabolite mimicry as an attractive strategy for the biological response to hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF). They discovered that 4-mercapto butyrate stabilized HIF more potently and had a longer biological half-life than butyrate in intestinal epithelial cells.