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Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrinopathy for which several pathogenic mechanisms, including cyclin D1 overexpression, have been identified. Vitamin D nutritional status may influence parathyroid tumorigenesis, but evidence remains circumstantial. To assess the potential influence of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency on initiation or progression of parathyroid tumorigenesis, we superimposed vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency on parathyroid tumor–prone parathyroid hormone–cyclin D1 transgenic mice. Mice were placed on diets containing either 2.75 IU/g, 0.25 IU/g, or 0.05 IU/g cholecalciferol, either prior to expected onset of PHPT or after onset of biochemical PHPT. When introduced early, superimposed vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency had no effect on serum calcium or on parathyroid gland growth. However, when introduced after the onset of biochemical PHPT, vitamin D deficiency led to larger parathyroid glands without differences in serum biochemical parameters. Our results suggest that low vitamin D status enhances proliferation of parathyroid cells whose growth is already being tumorigenically driven, in contrast to its apparent lack of direct proliferation-initiating action on normally growing parathyroid cells in this model. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that suboptimal vitamin D status may not increase incidence of de novo parathyroid tumorigenesis but may accelerate growth of a preexisting parathyroid tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protein product of the cyclin D1 oncogene functions by activating partner cyclin-dependent kinases (cdk)4 or cdk6 to phosphorylate, thereby inactivating, the retinoblastoma protein pRB. Nonclassical, cdk-independent, functions of cyclin D1 have been described but their role in cyclin D1-driven neoplasia, with attendant implications for recently approved cdk4/6 chemotherapeutic inhibitors, requires further examination. We investigated whether cyclin D1's role in parathyroid tumorigenesis in vivo is effected primarily through kinase-dependent or kinase-independent mechanisms. Using a mouse model of cyclin D1–driven parathyroid tumorigenesis (PTH-D1), we generated new transgenic lines harboring a mutant cyclin D1 (KE) that is unable to activate its partner kinases. While this kinase-dead KE mutant effectively drove mammary tumorigenesis in an analogous model, parathyroid-overexpressed cyclin D1 KE mice did not develop the characteristic biochemical hyperparathyroidism or parathyroid hypercellularity of PTH-D1 mice. These results strongly suggest that in parathyroid cells, cyclin D1 drives tumorigenesis predominantly through cdk-dependent mechanisms, in marked contrast with the cdk-independence of cyclin D1–driven mouse mammary cancer. These findings highlight crucial tissue-specific mechanistic differences in cyclin D1–driven tumorigenesis, suggest that parathyroid/endocrine cells may be more tumorigenically vulnerable to acquired genetic perturbations in cdk-mediated proliferative control than other tissues, and carry important considerations for therapeutic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We sought to develop and characterize a model of human vitamin D nutritional insufficiency/deficiency in the adult mouse, which could have broad utility in examining health consequences of this common condition.Methods: Adult mice were fed diets containing cholecalciferol contents of 0.05 IU/g, 0.25 IU/g, 0.5 IU/g or 1.5 IU/g for four months. We studied induction of steady-state vitamin D insufficiency, and its consequences on primary cholecalciferol metabolite levels, calcium homeostasis, parathyroid physiology, and bone morphology.Results: All diets were well tolerated, without adverse effects on body weight. Diets containing 0.05 IU/g and 0.25 IU/g cholecalciferol significantly lowered serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (median 25OHD, 10.5 ng/ml, and 21.6 ng/ml, respectively), starting as early as one month following initiation of the diets, maintained through the four-month experimental period. The 0.05 IU/g diet significantly decreased 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25OH2D) levels (median, 78 pg/ml). Despite these decreased 25OHD and 1,25OH2D levels, the diets did not alter parathyroid gland morphology or parathyroid cell proliferation. There were no statistical differences in the serum total calcium and serum PTH levels among the various dietary groups. Furthermore, the 0.05 IU/g diet did not cause any alterations in the cortical and trabecular bone morphology, as determined by microCT.Conclusions: The dietary manipulations yielded states of vitamin D insufficiency or modest deficiency in adult mice, with no overtly detectable impact on parathyroid and bone physiology, and calcium homeostasis. This model system may be of value to study health effects of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency especially on extraskeletal phenotypes such as cancer susceptibility or immune function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone remodeling requires osteoclast activation, resorption, and reversal, prior to osteoblast migration into the bone pit. The Receptor Activator of NF-κB (RANK) signaling pathway plays an important role in bone remodeling. Two components of the RANK signaling pathway, RANK Ligand (RANKL) and the decoy receptor Osteoprotegerin (OPG), are expressed predominantly on the surface of osteoblasts, while RANK is principally expressed on the surface of osteoclasts. However, RANK has also been reported to be expressed on the surface of osteoblasts and osteosarcoma tumor cells. Treatment with soluble RANKL (sRANKL) of both normal osteoblasts and osteosarcoma tumor cells activated phosphorylation of ERK, p38MAPK, Akt, and p65NF-κB. However, modified Boyden chamber assays and wound repair assays showed differential response to sRANKL-induced chemotactic migration in normal osteoblasts and osteosarcoma tumor cells. In contrast to previously published results, both normal osteoblasts and osteosarcoma tumor cells responded to sRANKL-induced chemotactic migration but the normal osteoblasts did so only in the presence of an ERK pathway inhibitor. For both normal and tumor cells, the chemotactic response could be blocked by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt or p65NF-κB pathway. Response to sRANKL in normal and tumor cells suggests a role for RANK/ERK-mediated signaling in normal osteoblasts chemotactic migration during bone remodeling that is altered or lost during osteosarcoma tumorigenesis. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 2951-2960, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which reported the discovery of novel chromosome breakpoint locations at the cyclin D1 and the PTH gene regions in a parathyroid adenoma. Rearrangement in the PTH gene locus was revealed in the Southern blot analyses of the parathyroid adenoma. It was also indicated that the location of the break at the PTH gene locus provides crucial information localizing distal promoter/enhancer sequences upstream of the PTH gene.

Background: Epidermal necrosis in a neonate is an uncommon event with a variety of potential cases. Result: We report a case of intrauterine epidermal necrosis in a preterm infant, with death occurring soon after birth. The histopathology of the denuded skin revealed full-thickness epidermal necrosis and calcification within both the epidermis and follicular structures. Conclusion: We believe this represents the fourth reported case of lethal intrauterine epidermal necrosis and follicular calcification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]