PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Peter Oladimeji AU - Taosheng Chen TI - PXR: more than just a master xenobiotic receptor AID - 10.1124/mol.117.110155 DP - 2017 Jan 01 TA - Molecular Pharmacology PG - mol.117.110155 4099 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2017/11/06/mol.117.110155.short 4100 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2017/11/06/mol.117.110155.full AB - Pregnane X receptor (PXR) is a nuclear receptor considered to be a master xenobiotic receptor that coordinately regulates the expression of genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters, to essentially detoxify and eliminate xenobiotics and endotoxins from the body. In the past several years, the function of PXR in the regulation of xenobiotic metabolism has been extensively studied, and the role of PXR as a xenobiotic sensor has been well-established. It is now clear, however, that PXR plays many other roles in addition to its xenobiotic sensing function. For instance, recent studies have discovered previously unidentified role of PXR in inflammatory response, cell proliferation and cell migration. PXR also contributes to the dysregulation of these processes in diseases states. These recent discoveries of the role of PXR in other cellular processes' physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions provides the possibility of novel targets for drug discovery. This review highlight areas of PXR regulation that requires further clarification and summarizes the recent progress in our understanding of the non-xenobiotic functions of PXR that can be explored for relevant therapeutic applications.