“…Unlike most steroid hormone receptors that have dissociation constants in the nanomolar range, and activate gene expression when steroids are present at 1-100 nM, the Kd for allopregnanolone binding to PXR is in the micromolar range, and requires 10-50 μM allopregnanolone for activation of gene expression in cell transfection assays (Lamba et al, 2004). PXR is activated by a wide range of structurally dissimilar compounds, consistent with its function in drug/xenobiotic sensing (Dixit et al, 2005;Ekins and Erickson, 2002;Kliewer et al, 2002;Poso and Honkakoski, 2006;Zhu et al, 2004), bile acid metabolism (Dussault et al, 2003;Goodwin et al, 2003), owing to its large ligand binding pocket (Ekins and Schuetz, 2002;Orans et al, 2005;Schuster and Langer, 2005;Watkins et al, 2002;Watkins et al, 2001). …”