Search

We report here that highly purified human vitamin D receptor (hVDR) derived from E. coli or baculovirus expression systems does not exhibit saturable, high affinity 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) ligand binding when these preparations alone are analyzed. Inclusion of rat liver nuclear extract, which does not itself contain detectable 1,25(OH)2D3 binding activity, is required to endow hVDR isolated from bacterial or insect cells with the property of high affinity hormone binding (Kd 0.13-0.22 nM). This observation should facilitate the valid assay of 1,25(OH)2D3 binding activity and kinetics in samples of overexpressed hVDR. Moreover, since rat liver nuclear extract contains retinoid X receptors and possibly other auxiliary factors capable of forming heterodimers with hVDR that in turn associate with vitamin D responsive elements, we hypothesize that like DNA binding, 1,25(OH)2D3 binding to hVDR requires the cooperation of a co-receptor or some uncharacterized receptor activating/stabilizing factor.

We report that the human 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor is an efficient substrate for cAMP-dependent protein kinase, in vitro. This phosphorylation reaction is rapid and neither dependent upon nor significantly affected by the presence of the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 ligand. Preliminary mapping experiments utilizing C-terminal truncation mutants reveal that the primary site(s) of phosphorylation, in vitro, is localized between amino acids 133 and 201. Cotransfection of the catalytic subunit of murine cAMP-dependent protein kinase and the human 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor into monkey kidney (COS-7) cells not only results in a dramatic kinase-dependent increase in receptor phosphorylation but also elicits an attenuation in 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-dependent transcriptional activation of a reporter gene. These observations suggest a potential role for cAMP-dependent protein kinase in the modulation of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor-mediated gene regulation.

The human vitamin D receptor (hVDR), which is a substrate for several protein kinases, mediates the actions of its 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) ligand to regulate gene expression. To determine the site, and functional impact, of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA)-catalyzed phosphorylation of hVDR, we generated a series of C-terminally truncated and point mutant receptors. Incubation of mutant hVDRs with PKA and [γ- 32 P]ATP, in vitro, or overexpressing them in COS-7 kidney cells labeled with [ 32 P]orthophosphate, revealed that serine-182 is the predominant residue in hVDR phosphorylated by PKA. An aspartate substituted mutant (S182D), incorporating a negative charge to mimic phosphorylation, displayed only 50% of the transactivation capacity in response to 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 of either wild-type or an S182A-altered hVDR. When the catalytic subunit of PKA was overexpressed, a similar reduction in wild-type but not S182D hVDR transactivity was observed. In a mammalian two-hybrid system, S182D bound less avidly than wild-type or S182A hVDR to the retinoid X receptor (RXR) heterodimeric partner that co-mediates vitamin D responsive element recognition and transactivation. These data suggest that hVDR serine-182 is a primary site for PKA phosphorylation, an event that leads to an attenuation of both RXR heterodimerization and resultant transactivation of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 target genes.