Figure 1

Chemical structures of PXR activators. Chemical structures of the PXR activators 5β-pregnane-3,20-dione, 5α-androstan-3α-ol, 5β-lithocholic acid, 5α-cyprinol 27-sulfate, 3-aminoethylbenzoate, and 6-formylindolo-[3,2-b]-carbozole. The key bond positions are numbered for the steroids and bile salts, and the lettering of the steroidal rings is indicated for pregnanedione and lithocholic acid. The structure to the right of lithocholic acid illustrates the most stable orientation of the A, B, and C steroid rings for 5β-bile salts (like lithocholic acid) with the A/B cis configuration (referring to the relative orientation of the hydrogen atom substituents on carbon atoms 5 and 10). The structure to the right of 5α-cyprinol sulfate shows the most stable orientation of 5α-bile salts (like 5α-cyprinol sulfate) that prefentially adopt the A/B trans configuration.