Abstract1A,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3 [1A,25-(OH) 2 D 3 ; calcitriol] is best known as a hormone involved in calcium homeostasis but is also a potent antiproliferative agent in many cell types, particularly epithelial cells. 1A,25(OH) 2 D 3 mediates its actions through a classic steroid hormone-like transcriptional mechanism by influencing the expression of hundreds of genes. Effects of 1A,25(OH) 2 D 3 have been observed on expression of cell cycle regulators, growth factors and their receptors, apoptotic machinery, metastatic potential, and angiogenesis; all of which have some effect on hyperproliferative conditions. This minireview focuses on the anticancer potential of 1A,25(OH) 2 D 3 and its analogues by summarizing the promising data from animal and human trials of 1A,25(OH) 2 D 3 and some of the more interesting synthetic vitamin D analogues in the treatment of a variety of different animal cancer models and in human patients with advanced cancer. Optimal administration of vitamin D analogues is only just being achieved with high-dose intermittent administration overcoming bioavailability and hypercalcemia problems and combination therapy with cytotoxic agents (taxols and cisplatins), antiresorptive agents (bisphosphonates), or cytochrome P450 inhibitors being attempted. Although the potential of vitamin D as an antiproliferative drug has been realized in the treatment of psoriasis and in parathyroid cell hyperplasia associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism, the search for an anticancer treatment incorporating a vitamin D analogue remains elusive. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(4):797 -808]

The 25-hydroxyvitamin D-24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1) plays an important role in regulating concentrations of both the precursor 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] and the hormone 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1alpha,25(OH)(2)D3]. Previous studies suggest that Cyp24a1-null mice cannot clear exogenous 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 efficiently. Here, we examined the metabolic clearance in Cyp24a1-null mice in vivo and in vitro using a physiological dose of [1beta-3H]1alpha,25(OH)2D3 or [26,27-methyl-3H]25(OH)D3. Cyp24a1-null mice showed difficulty in eliminating [1beta-3H]1alpha,25(OH)2D3 from the bloodstream and tissues over a 96-h time course, whereas heterozygotic mice eliminated the hormone within 6-12 h, although there was clearance of labeled hormone into water-soluble products involving liver in both genotypes. RT-PCR showed that Cyp24a1-null mice have decreased expression of 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1alpha-hydroxylase that must play a role in their survival. After the administration of [26,27-methyl-3H]25(OH)D3, Cyp24a1-null mice showed higher [26,27-methyl-3H]25(OH)D3 levels and no [26,27-methyl-3H]24,25(OH)2D3 formation, whereas heterozygotic mice showed significant [26,27-methyl-3H]24,25(OH)2D3 production. Based upon in vitro experiments, keratinocytes from Cyp24a1-null mice fail to synthesize [1beta-3H]calcitroic acid from [1beta-3H]1alpha,25(OH2D3 or [26,27-methyl-3H]24,25(OH)2D3 from [26,27-methyl-3H]25(OH)D3 as do control mice, confirming the target cell catabolic role of CYP24A1 in these processes. Finally, the role of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the vitamin D catabolic cascade was examined using VDR-null mice. Keratinocytes from VDR-null mice failed to metabolize [1beta-3H]1alpha,25(OH)2D3 confirming the importance of vitamin D-inducible, VDR-mediated, C24 oxidation pathway in target cells. These results suggest that the absence of CYP24A1 or VDR retards catabolism of 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 and 25(OH)D3, reinforcing the physiological importance of CYP24A1 in vitamin D homeostasis.

[1] The 2-decade records of the partial pressure of CO 2 in surface waters (pCO 2 sea ) and the resulting air-sea CO 2 flux in the extensive subtropical to equatorial area along 137°E in the western North Pacific in winter exhibited significant interannual variations that differed in different regions. The pCO 2 sea varied largely in the equatorial region of 3°N to 6°N, depending on the oceanographic conditions related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The magnitude of the variations differed year by year, corresponding to the different degrees of compensation between the sea surface temperature (SST) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) effects on pCO 2 sea during the events. Small pCO 2 sea variations in the subtropical gyre north of 23°N were due to highly counteracting effects between anticorrelated SST and DIC anomalies through the entrainment process. In contrast, a low negative correlation existed between SST and DIC, associated with the lateral advection in the region restricted around 15°N to 18°N in the North Equatorial Current, resulting in a large amplitude of variations of pCO 2 sea and hence CO 2 influx. The interannual variations of CO 2 flux depended predominantly on the difference in pCO 2 between air and sea south of 18°N, but on wind speed in the northern region. It is important to monitor how the contributions of different properties to the CO 2 flux could change in the western North Pacific, responding to possible shifts of the ENSO conditions and the future progress of global warming.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The binding properties, with blood proteins, and tissue distribution of 22-oxa-1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin (22-oxacalcitriol; OCT), a noncalcemic analogue of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], in rats were investigated. The binding affinity of OCT to plasma vitamin D binding protein (DBP) is extremely low and OCT mainly circulates in the blood as an intact form nonspecifically bound to lipoproteins especially to chylomicrons and low density lipoprotein (LDL). OCT intravenously injected into normal rats rats rapidly disappeared from the blood, and rapidly appeared in the bile as glucuronides of intact OCT and 1 alpha, 3 beta,20(S)-trihydroxy-9,10-secopregna-5,7,10(19)-triene (23,24,25,26, 27-pentanorOCT; pentanorOCT) as an OCT metabolite. When OCT or 1,25(OH)2D3 was injected into normal rats, significant amounts of OCT and 1,25(OH)2D3 were quickly detected in the thyroid and parathyroid glands, thymus, adrenals, liver, plasma, small intestine, kidneys, and calvaria. The detected amounts of OCT in the parathyroid glands, thymus, adrenals, liver, small intestine, and kidneys were significantly higher than the respective values for 1,25(OH)2D3 2 and/or 10 min after injection, while those of OCT in the plasma and calvaria were significantly lower than those of 1,25(OH)2D3. The in vivo rapid turn-over, nonspecific transportation, and incorporation of detectable amounts into the tissues are typical characteristics of OCT which may account for its specific activities.

No abstract