containing 1 x 106 cpm of nick-translated probe per ml (12). After being washed three times at 60'C in 0.5 x SSC to remove excess probe, the filters were exposed to X-ray film (Kodak X-Omat S) at -700C with an intensifying screen. Hybridization-positive phage were isolated, and their inserts were subcloned into the EcoRI site of M13mp8. AVDR1 was obtained in this fashion and subsequently used to screen an Okayama-Berg (13) T47D cDNA library (provided by G. Ringold, Stanford University), yielding clone VDR3, and a specifically primed AgtlO T47D library yielding clone AVDR2. The latter was made by substituting the oligonucleotide 5' ACACACCCCACAGATCCGGGG 3' for oligo(dT) in the first strand reaction (underlined in Fig. 2).DNA Sequence Analysis. Three overlapping clones were used to generate the full-length VDR sequence cDNA inserts to be sequenced. These clones were subcloned into the EcoRI site of M13mp8 for sequencing by the dideoxynucleotide chain-termination method (14). Primers were either the M13 universal primer or sequence-derived oligonucleotides.RNA Blot Hybridization. Total RNA was isolated from each of three cell lines (15), and the mRNA fraction was selected by successive passages over oligo(dT)-cellulose (16). The mRNA samples (10 ,ug) were resolved on a 1% formaldehyde-agarose gel (17) and then transferred electrophoretically to a nylon membrane (Nytran; Schleicher & Schuell). The filter was hybridized to nick-translated hVDR-1(1 x 108 cpm/,ug; 1 x 106 cpm/ml) using the conditions described above.Expression