The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a ligand-inducible transcription factor whose target genes play key roles in cellular metabolism, bone formation, cellular growth, differentiation and in controlling inflammation. Many of these VDR target genes are also involved in dysregulated pathways leading to common human diseases, such as cancer. The activation of VDR by natural and synthetic ligands may im...

Objective. It has been stated that brain cancers are an increasingly serious issue in many parts of the world. The aim of our study was to determine a possible relationship between Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and the risk of glioma and meningioma. Methods. We investigated the VDR Taq-I and VDR Fok-I gene polymorphisms in 100 brain cancer patients (including 44 meningioma cases a...

PURPOSE Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms are considered to be risk factors for prostate cancer. However, previous case-control studies on the association between the variants of VDR and prostate cancer have shown contradictory results. Therefore, the role of VDR in prostate cancer remains unresolved. To investigate a potential correlation between VDR polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk...

The Vitamin D receptor (VDR) expressed in normal breast tissue and breast tumors has been suggested as a new prognostic biomarker in breast cancer (BC). Besides, increasing evidence supports the view that the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) predicts outcome in early and metastatic BC. Consequently, an evaluation of VDR expression in the CTCs of BC patients may allow optimization of ...

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a nuclear transcription factor responsible for mediating the biological activities of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)]. Renal and parathyroid gland VDR content is an important factor in calcium homeostasis, vitamin D metabolism, and the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism and renal osteodystrophy. In these tissues, VDR expression is highly regu...

Running title: Effect of ACE and AT 1 blockers on VDR null mice Abstract We have recently shown that vitamin D receptor (VDR) inactivation results in deregulated stimulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). To address further the relationship between RAS activation and the abnormalities in electrolyte and volume homeostasis, we studied the effect of AT 1 receptor antagonist losartan and a...

BACKGROUND Like other steroid hormones, vitamin D elicits both transcriptional events and rapid non genomic effects. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) localization and mechanisms of VDR-triggered non genomic responses are still controversial. Although anticoagulant effects of vitamin D have been reported and VDR signalling has been characterized in monocytes and vascular cells, nothing is known about VD...

Several inflammatory mediators increase calcitriol production by epidermal keratinocytes. In turn calcitriol attenuates the keratinocyte inflammatory response. Since the effect of the in-situ generated calcitriol depends also on the sensitivity to the hormone we studied the effect of inflammatory cytokines on the response of HaCaT human keratinocytes to calcitriol by examining the expression an...

Calcitriol, acting through vitamin D receptors (VDR) in the parathyroid, suppresses parathyroid hormone synthesis and cell proliferation. In secondary hyperparathyroidism (SH), VDR content is reduced as hyperplasia becomes more severe, limiting the efficacy of calcitriol. In a rat model of SH, activation of the EGF receptor (EGFR) by TGF-alpha is required for the development of parathyroid hype...

The kidney is the major, if not sole, site for the production of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25(OH)(2)D(3)), the biologically active form of vitamin D that can stimulate calcium reabsorption in the kidney and may provide renoprotective benefits. The biological effects of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) are mediated through a nuclear hormone receptor, known as the vitamin D receptor (VDR). It is well accepte...