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Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Anthony W. Norman, Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, California 92506. E-mail: Anthony.norman{at}ucr.edu.
| Abstract |
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,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 [1
,25(OH)2D3], that is produced by the kidney acting as an endocrine gland. The discovery in 1969 of the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR) for 1
,25(OH)2D3 initiated a two-decade-long proliferation of reports that collectively described the broad sphere of influence of the vitamin D endocrine system that is defined by the presence of the VDR in over 30 tissue/organs of man. The new genomic frontiers defined by the cellular presence of the VDR include the immune systems B and T lymphocytes, hair follicle, muscle, adipose tissue, bone marrow, and cancer cells. Unexpectedly in the mid 1980s, a new world of 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated rapid responses (RR) was discovered. These were responses that occurred too rapidly (minutes to an hour) to be explained as the simple consequence of the nuclear VDR regulating gene transcription. Some RR examples include the rapid intestinal absorption of calcium (transcaltachia), secretion of insulin by pancreatic ß-cells, opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ and Cl channels in osteoblasts, and the rapid migration of endothelial cells. The question then arose as to whether there was a second receptor, apart from the nuclear VDR, which responded to the presence of 1
,25(OH)2D3 to generate RR? After some false starts, it now appears that the classic VDR, long known to reside in the cell nucleus, in some cells is also associated with caveolae present in the plasma membrane. Furthermore, the chemical properties of the conformationally flexible 1
,25(OH)2D3 allow it to generate different shaped ligands for the VDR that are selective either for genomic or for RR. This minireview summarizes a proposed conformational ensemble model of the VDR that provides insight into how different ligand shapes of 1
,25(OH)2D3 acting through the VDR in different cellular locations can selectively mediate both genomic and RR.
STEROID HORMONES ARE able to serve as chemical messengers in a wide number of species and target tissues to transmit signals that result in both genomic and rapid responses (RR). The ability of steroid hormones, including 1
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 [1
,25(OH)2D3], to generate biological responses is defined by the presence of their cognate receptors in selected target organs and tissues. Although it is clear that steroid hormones genomic responses are mediated by formation of a ligand-receptor complex with the cognate receptor of the superfamily of steroid hormone nuclear receptors (1), new evidence indicates for all steroid hormones that their RR are mediated by a variety of receptor types located near or associated with the plasma membrane or its caveolae components (2). The time required for onset of the RR is system dependent and can vary from seconds (e.g. opening ion channels) to 1060 min (e.g. activation of phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase or endothelial nitric oxide synthase). This contrasts with genomic responses, which generally take a few hours to days to become fully manifest and which can be blocked by inhibitors of transcription and translation.
1
,25(OH)2D3, which is a conformationally flexible molecule, is known to stimulate a wide array of RR; some examples include the rapid intestinal absorption of Ca2+ (transcaltachia), secretion of insulin by pancreatic ß-cells, opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ and Cl channels in osteoblasts, and the rapid migration of endothelial cells (2, 3). Intriguingly, one shape of 1
,25(OH)2D3 is used for genomic responses, and a different shape serves as an agonist of RR (4). The question then arose as to whether there was a second receptor, apart from the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR), which responded to the presence of a different shaped 1
,25(OH)2D3 to generate RR? The purpose of this minireview is to evaluate the VDR with respect to its involvement in genomic responses and then to review evidence that the same VDR is also involved in mediation of RR.
It has been generally assumed for receptor-ligand interactions that the ligand is frozen in a single conformation dictated by both the structural constraints of the ligand and the three-dimensional architecture of the peptide chains that create the ligand binding domain (LBD) of the receptor(s). The ligands for the thyroid receptor (T3), the retinoic acid receptor (retinoic acid), and the VDR are all conformationally flexible, and the x-ray crystallographic structure for each receptor indicates that only one definitive conformer was present in each LBD (2). This clearly demonstrates that steroid receptors can capture one ligand conformation from a very large population of flexible conformers.
Figure 1
, AC, summarizes the three structural features of 1
,25(OH)2D3 that empower its exceptional flexibility and as a consequence define its ability to generate a multitude of different agonist shapes for the VDR and other putative receptors. Figure 1
, E and F, illustrates the shape of the optimal ligand for VDR-mediated nuclear responses and for RR as well for a second protein of the vitamin D endocrine system, the plasma transport protein, or vitamin D binding protein (DBP), the x-ray structure of which has also been elucidated. It is clear that the VDR, DBP, and the receptor for 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated RR each have a characteristic ligand shape. As a consequence, it may be possible to chemically synthesize analogs of 1
,25(OH)2D3 that are selective for genomic responses or RR.
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,25(OH)2D3, to initiate the indicated RR was compared with that of 6-s-cis locked 1
,25(OH)2-lumisterol (JN) and a 6-s-trans locked 1
,25(OH)-dihydrotachysterol3 (JB). In all four systems, the optimal shaped RR agonist was found to be the 6-s-cis locked JN, which was equipotent to that of 1
,25(OH)2D3. Figure 1D
,25(OH)2D3- or JN-mediated RR must clearly have a LBD that can accommodate a 6-s-cis ligand shape.
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,25(OH)2D3 and its VDR. Some of the new genomic frontiers include the immune systems B and T lymphocytes, the hair follicle, muscle, adipose tissue, bone marrow, and cancer cells.
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,25(OH)2D3-mediated RR on the VDR from 1994 to the present are also summarized in Table 2
,25(OH)2D3 has its origins in the study of the process of 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated response of transcaltachia, or the rapid hormonal stimulation of intestinal Ca2+ absorption in the perfused chick intestine (6). The most potent agonist is the natural hormone 1
,25(OH)2D3, which can stimulate the transport of calcium across the intestine within 45 min of its injection in the celiac artery that perfuses the duodenum (6).
The current view of this laboratory is that transcaltachia and many other 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated RR are initiated by a membrane-localized receptor that binds 1
,25(OH)2D3 (7). Recent work in our laboratory has focused on isolation of the intestinal, kidney, or lung membrane fractions that contains caveolae. Caveolae are flask-shaped membrane invaginations that are enriched in the sphingolipids and cholesterol commonly found in both caveolae and/or lipid rafts (8). The caveolae-enriched membrane fraction is isolated from chick or rat intestine, kidney, or lung tissue by Percoll buoyant density centrifugation. We find under both in vivo and in vitro conditions that there is a saturable binding of high-specific-activity tritiated 1
,25(OH)2D3 in the caveolae-enriched membrane fraction. This binding activity is steroid specific for 1
-hydroxylated analogs and for 1
,25(OH)2D3 has a distribution constant (Kd) equal to 1.4 nM, which is identical to the nuclear VDR Kd for 1
,25(OH)2D3 (7). Furthermore, by confocal microscopy, we showed that green fluorescent labeled antibodies to the classical nuclear VDR colocalized with red fluorescent labeled antibodies to caveolin-1 in caveolae present in the plasma membrane of ROS-17.2,8 osteoblast cells (7).
Both the authors laboratory (7) and that of Lieberherr and Garabedian (9) have separately concluded that the RR effects of 1
,25(OH)2D3 require a functional VDR. We found that in VDR-knockout mice (VDR-KO), 1
,25(OH)2D3 was unable to stimulate the opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ and Cl channels (7, 10) and that there was a loss of 7090% in the ability of [3H]1
,25(OH)2D3 to bind to isolated caveolae membrane fractions obtained from VDR-KO intestine, lung, and kidney tissues (7). The residual binding of [3H]1
,25(OH)2D3 present in VDR-KO tissues was found to be attributable to the presence of a truncated form of the VDR present in the strain of VDR-KO mice employed in our studies (10). Lieberherr and Garabedian found that in fibroblasts obtained from a patient with the genetic disease of vitamin D-resistant rickets, a single point mutation in the VDR (Lys45Glu) resulted in the loss of 1
,25(OH)2D3 RR (9).
Thus, this laboratorys view is that the classical VDR normally associated with the cell nucleus and gene transcription can also be resident near to or associated with caveolae present in the plasma membrane. It has also been reported that the estrogen receptor and androgen receptor are associated with caveolae of (2).
It is apparent that for the VDR there is a perceived problem, because a 6-s-trans shape of 1
,25(OH)2D3 is obligatory for genomic responses, whereas a 6-s-cis shape is required for RR. This then poses the conundrum as to how a receptor with one LBD can bind ligands of quite different shapes to generate two quite different biological outcomes? Yet, the x-ray structure of the VDR revealed only one LBD, that which bound the 6-s-trans shape (see Fig. 1E
).
One possible solution to the conundrum was obtained from molecular modeling of the VDR (11). Using the atomic coordinates of the x-ray structures of the VDR and computer modeling (see Fig. 2A
), we have been able to identify the presence of a putative alternative LBD in the VDR that can accommodate via computer docking either the appropriate natural hormone or analogs that are known to be agonists only for RR (see Fig. 2A
) (11). Figure 2A
illustrates for the VDR the classical nuclear ligand pocket (red) and the proposed alternative ligand pocket (blue). Each ligand pocket is envisioned to have separate portals. The entrance to the nuclear pocket is dependent upon helix 12 being in an open configuration so that the hormone/ligand can enter into the LBD pocket and gain access to integral H-bonding residues thereby fully occupying the genomic pocket. Next, helix 12 moves to reclose the portal. The surprising discovery is that the alternative pocket and the genomic pocket overlap. Each of these pockets uses the same hydrogen-bonding partners of the VDR to stabilize the A-rings of the bound ligands; however, the remaining interactions of the C/D-ring and side chain of the ligand in the genomic or alternative pockets are entirely unique. Although the Kd of the genomic pocket is known from equilibrium binding experiments with [3H]1,25(OH)2D3 to be approximately 1.4 nM (7), it is possible that the alternative pocket may have a different Kd. In general, the effective doses of 1
,25(OH)2D3 required to initiate RR have been found to be in the range of 110 nM.
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,25(OH)2D3 should be able to change its conformation much more quickly than the receptor protein, so essentially the whole ensemble of 1
,25(OH)2D3 conformations can sample each of the individual protein ensemble conformations. Implicit in this model is that the receptor sampling by the ligand involves gaining entrance and exploring the interior surface of the LBD to determine whether a complementary fit can be achieved. A related model to describe ligand/receptor-induced dissociation of rapid from genomic responses was included in the comprehensive analysis of nongenotropic, sex-nonspecific signaling by the estrogen and androgen receptors (12). Although this model has not yet been fully validated, it is possible to identify experiments involving site-directed mutagenesis of the VDR that may give further insight.
Figure 3
is a summary figure that integrates the signal transduction pathways that are used by the nuclear VDR and the membrane-associated VDR using 1
,25(OH)2D3 as a conformationally flexible agonist. This model emphasizes the complexity of overlapping and interconnecting signal transduction pathways. Although there is a solid and secure foundation describing 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated genomic actions, 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated RR are still in their developmental phase. One extraordinary challenge will be to identify and fully biochemically characterize the membrane-associated VDR. An equally daunting task will be to define in the various cell systems that display RR the identification of the specific signal transduction pathways that contribute to mediation of a specific rapid biological response. An additional important question is whether the membrane VDR can communicate with the nucleus of the cell to modulate gene transcription. In data not shown, but summarized in Fig. 3
, there are at least five different systems where molecular biological evidence has been obtained for the process of cross-talk from 1
,25(OH)2D3 RR to changes in gene expression in the cell nucleus. In these studies, 6-s-cis locked analogs have been shown to modulate genomic responses at relatively early time intervals (24 h). Without a doubt, it is clear that the already busy genomic oriented VDR has new assignments in the realm of 1
,25(OH)2D3-mediated RR.
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| Acknowledgments |
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Received July 8, 2006. Accepted August 7, 2006.
| Footnotes |
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Disclosure summary: The author has nothing to declare.
First Published Online August 31, 2006
Abbreviations: 1
,25(OH)2D3, 1
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3; DBP, vitamin D binding protein; JN, 1
,25(OH)2-lumisterol; KO, knockout; LBD, ligand binding domain; RR, rapid response(s); VDR, vitamin D receptor.
Received July 14, 2006.
Accepted for publication August 11, 2006.
| References |
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,25(OH)2-Vitamin D3 mediated rapid and genomic responses are dependent upon critical structure-function relationships for both the ligand and receptor(s). In: Feldman D, Pike JW, Glorieux FH, eds. Vitamin D. 2nd ed. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press; 381407
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 indicates that the 6-s-cis conformation is preferred for rapid nongenomic biological responses and that neither 6-s-cis nor 6-s-trans locked analogs are preferred for genomic biological responses. Mol Endocrinol 11:15181531
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 in vivo and in vitro. Mol Endocrinol 18:26602671
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:1287612881
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 of whole cell chloride currents in osteoblastic ROS 17/2.8 cells: a structure-function study. J Biol Chem 272:2261722622
,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 induces vascular smooth muscle cell migration via activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Circ Res 91:1724
,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and dihydrotachysterol3. Science 186:939941
,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in basal-lateral membranes of chick intestinal epithelium and relationship to transcaltachia. J Biol Chem 269:2375023756
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3. J Cell Biochem 91:852863
,25-dihydroxy D3 is present in an intestinal caveolae membrane fraction. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 298:414419[CrossRef][Medline]
,25(OH)2D3 membrane binding protein (1,25D3-MARRS) and phosphate uptake in intestinal cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:73927397
,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 requires the presence of a functional vitamin D nuclear receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:15891594This article has been cited by other articles:
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