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Regulation of the intestinal absorption of calcium by vitamin D in the rat involves the synthesis or maintenance of specific membrane proteins. A particulate preparation derived from duodenal mucosal homogenates or isolated microvillus membranes contains at least three vitamin D-dependent activities: calcium binding, p-nitrophenylphosphatase, and calcium-dependent ATPase. The membrane calcium-binding activity correlates closely with calcium transport. Solubilization and biochemical purification have led to the separation of the calcium-binding from the enzymatic activities and to the isolation of the calcium-binding protein (CaBP). This membrane protein has an apparent molecular weight of approximately 200,000 in 0.1% Triton X-100 and yields a monomeric subunit of molecular weight 20,500 in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The new protein, named IMCal, is clearly distinguished from the soluble CaBP found in mucosal homogenates and has a higher affinity for calcium than does the soluble protein. The hypothesis is proposed that IMCal is involved in the facilitated entry of calcium into the enterocyte from the lumen of the intestine.

A particulate fraction of rat intestinal mucosal homogenates, termed the "calcium-binding complex," contains three vitamin D-dependent activities: calcium binding of high affinity, calcium-dependent adenosine triphosphatase, and p-nitrophenylphosphatase. These particulate activities vary concordantly with intestinal calcium transport, suggesting that they represent membrane components of the translocation mechanism. The particulate was solubilized with 1-butanol and the activities were resolved partially by gel filtration and by DEAE-cellulose and spheroidal hydroxyl-apatite column chromatography. The Ca-binding activity was separated from the enzymes and isolated as a protein of molecular weight approximately 200,000, as estimated by gel filtration in 0.1% Triton X-100. The membrane protein, named IMCal (intestinal membrane calcium-binding protein), was dissociated with sodium dodecyl sulfate to yield a monomer of molecular weight 20,500 which is clearly distinguishable from the soluble calcium-binding protein (molecular weight 11,500) of rat mucosa. The apparent dissociation constants of Ca2+ of IMCal and of the soluble calcium-binding protein were estimated as 0.37 microM and 2.25 microM, respectively. The vitamin D-dependent activities of the calcium-binding complex are present in isolated intestinal microvillus membranes and may mediate the translocation of calcium from the intestinal lumen to the cytosol.

A vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding activity of relatively high molecular weight has been identified in the particulate fraction of rat small intestinal mucosa. The Ca-binding activity is sedimented at 140,000 X g after treatment of the mucosal particulate fraction with Triton X-114. Intestinal brush-border suspensions can also be used as starting material. The Ca-binding component is inactivated by heat and repeated freeze-thawing and consists of one or more protein complexes in the range of 0.5-1.0 million mol wt as indicated by gel filtration. The Ca-binding activity correlates positively with known features of the intestinal Ca transport mechanism, as demonstrated by studies of the distribution in the small intestine and the effects of vitamin D, dietary Ca, cycloheximide treatment, and rat age. It is suggested that the component might function in the transit of Ca across the brush-border surface to the cytosol of intestinal mucosal cells.

Intestinal brush borders prepared from vitamin D-deficient rats demonstrate increased susceptibility in vitro to fragmentation by shear forces or to loss of microvillus enzymes on treatment with EDTA. These effects are relatively nonspecific and are also observed in normal rats starved for 48 h. They may underlie prior observations that purport to demonstrate a vitamin D-dependent increase in brush border Ca-dependent ATPase. In addition, however, vitamin D increases ATPase activity dependent on certain divalent cations, including Ca and Zn, in whole-particulate suspensions pelleted by high-speed centrifugation of mucosal homogenates. This action is independent of changes in other microvillus enzymes, i.e. disaccharidases, and tissue distribution and cation specificity studies support the hypothesis that the mucosal whole-particulate ATPase is related to transport of Ca, Zn, and possibly other divalent cations.