The metabolic activation of the prohormone vitamin D 3 requires a 25-hydroxylation that has been reported to be catalyzed by both mitochondrial CYP27A and a microsomal vitamin D 3 25-hydroxylase in the liver. CYP27A has been extensively studied, but its role as a physiologically important vitamin D 3 25-hydroxylase has been questioned. The present paper reports that the microsomal vitamin D 3 25-hydroxylase, purified from pig liver, converted vitamin D 3 into 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 in substrate concentrations which are within the physiological range (apparent K m ؍ 0.1 M). The enzyme 25-hydroxylated vitamin D 3 , 1␣-hydroxyvitamin D 3 and vitamin D 2 and also converted tolterodine, a substrate for human CYP2D6, into its 5-hydroxymethyl metabolite. Tolterodine inhibited the microsomal 25-hydroxylation, whereas quinidine, an inhibitor of CYP2D6, did not markedly inhibit the reaction. The primary structure of the microsomal vitamin D 3 25-hydroxylase, designated CYP2D25, shows 77% identity with that of human CYP2D6. Northern blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction experiments revealed that CYP2D25 mRNA is expressed in higher levels in liver than in kidney and in small amounts in adrenals, brain, heart, intestine, lung, muscle, spleen, and thymus. Experiments with human liver microsomes and recombinantly expressed CYP2D6 strongly indicate that the microsomal 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D 3 in human liver is catalyzed by an enzyme different from CYP2D6.Vitamin D 3 (cholecalciferol) is essential for the absorption of calcium and phosphate in the intestine and has effects on the regulation of growth and differentiation of certain specialized cell types. The prohormone vitamin D 3 is formed from 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin under the influence of ultraviolet irradiation. Vitamin D 3 can also be derived from dietary sources. Vitamin D 2 (ergocalciferol), which differs structurally from vitamin D 3 in the side chain, has been frequently used to treat and prevent vitamin D deficiency and is used in parenteral vitamin formulations. A cytochrome P450-dependent 25-hydroxylation in the liver is the first step in the metabolic activation of both vitamin D 3 and vitamin D 2 into their active hormonal forms. It has been reported that extracts and enzyme preparations from other tissues, e.g. kidney, also contain this activity. The 25-hydroxylation is followed by the tightly regulated 1␣-hydroxylation in the kidney, to form the biologically active compounds 1␣,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 and 1␣,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 2 , respectively (for review, see Ref.
1).A mitochondrial vitamin D 3 25-hydroxylase, CYP27A, 1 has been purified from several species and characterized (2-7). It is well established that this enzyme catalyzes the obligatory 27-hydroxylation of cholesterol and C 27 -sterols in bile acid biosynthesis. The tissue distribution of this mitochondrial enzyme is wide spread, its mRNA is found not only in liver but in most other tissues (3). Leading authorities in the vitamin D field have expressed skepticism ...