000646269 001__ 646269 000646269 005__ 20260219121305.0 000646269 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.cmet.2025.12.018 000646269 0247_ $$2ISSN$$a1550-4131 000646269 0247_ $$2ISSN$$a1932-7420 000646269 037__ $$aPUBDB-2026-00792 000646269 041__ $$aEnglish 000646269 082__ $$a570 000646269 1001_ $$aPapa, Christina$$b0 000646269 245__ $$aBempedoic acid directly binds and activates PPARα 000646269 260__ $$aAmsterdam [u.a.]$$bElsevier$$c2026 000646269 3367_ $$2DRIVER$$aarticle 000646269 3367_ $$2DataCite$$aOutput Types/Journal article 000646269 3367_ $$0PUB:(DE-HGF)16$$2PUB:(DE-HGF)$$aJournal Article$$bjournal$$mjournal$$s1771498300_3015806 000646269 3367_ $$2BibTeX$$aARTICLE 000646269 3367_ $$2ORCID$$aJOURNAL_ARTICLE 000646269 3367_ $$00$$2EndNote$$aJournal Article 000646269 520__ $$aBempedoic acid (BA) is a recently approved drug that lowers cholesterol and hepatic lipids, yet its mechanism of action remains incompletely understood. Here, we combine transcriptomic, biochemical, and structural approaches to show that BA directly binds to and activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). BA treatment robustly induced PPARα signaling and fatty acid oxidation in primary hepatocytes and mouse liver. Through X-ray crystallography, we uncovered that BA binds to the ligand-binding domain of PPARα and stabilizes its active conformation. BA activated PPARα target genes independently of very-long-chain acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase (ACSVL1), the liver-enriched enzyme that converts BA to its bempedoyl-CoA form. Notably, BA-mediated induction of fatty acid oxidation required PPARα. Together, this work reveals direct PPARα activation as a key mechanism of BA action, providing a molecular basis for its lipid-lowering effects and suggesting broader therapeutic potential beyond the liver. 000646269 536__ $$0G:(DE-HGF)POF4-6G3$$a6G3 - PETRA III (DESY) (POF4-6G3)$$cPOF4-6G3$$fPOF IV$$x0 000646269 588__ $$aDataset connected to CrossRef, Journals: bib-pubdb1.desy.de 000646269 693__ $$0EXP:(DE-H253)P-P14-20150101$$1EXP:(DE-H253)PETRAIII-20150101$$6EXP:(DE-H253)P-P14-20150101$$aPETRA III$$fPETRA Beamline P14$$x0 000646269 7001_ $$aRose, Alina$$b1 000646269 7001_ $$aMartin, Hugo N. G.$$b2 000646269 7001_ $$aUseini, Abibe$$b3 000646269 7001_ $$aGeier, Florian$$b4 000646269 7001_ $$aLiao, Longsheng$$b5 000646269 7001_ $$aRodríguez-Aguilera, Jesús Rafael$$b6 000646269 7001_ $$aValina-Allo, Philipp$$b7 000646269 7001_ $$aHoffmann, Anne$$b8 000646269 7001_ $$aTvardovskiy, Andrey$$b9 000646269 7001_ $$aZulfqar, Faiqa$$b10 000646269 7001_ $$aZimmerman, Andrea$$b11 000646269 7001_ $$aSchicht, Gerda$$b12 000646269 7001_ $$aOtt, Fritzi$$b13 000646269 7001_ $$aKörner, Christiane$$b14 000646269 7001_ $$aEngelmann, Beatrice$$b15 000646269 7001_ $$aRolle-Kampczyk, Ulrike$$b16 000646269 7001_ $$avon Bergen, Martin$$b17 000646269 7001_ $$aMeier, Matthias$$b18 000646269 7001_ $$aBartke, Till$$b19 000646269 7001_ $$aSeehofer, Daniel$$b20 000646269 7001_ $$aKlöting, Nora$$b21 000646269 7001_ $$aMatz-Soja, Madlen$$b22 000646269 7001_ $$aDamm, Georg$$b23 000646269 7001_ $$aBoeckel, Jes-Niels$$b24 000646269 7001_ $$aBuescher, Joerg M.$$b25 000646269 7001_ $$aBlüher, Matthias$$b26 000646269 7001_ $$aLaufs, Ulrich$$b27 000646269 7001_ $$aBondareva, Olga$$b28 000646269 7001_ $$aSträter, Norbert$$b29 000646269 7001_ $$aKünze, Georg$$b30 000646269 7001_ $$aHeiker, John T.$$b31 000646269 7001_ $$00000-0002-1970-6236$$aSheikh, Bilal N.$$b32$$eCorresponding author 000646269 773__ $$0PERI:(DE-600)2174469-5$$a10.1016/j.cmet.2025.12.018$$gp. 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