Mechanism of action of superactive vitamin D analogs through regulated receptor degradation.

We and others have previously shown that selected vitamin D analogs potentiate the vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediated transcription much more efficiently than the natural hormone itself. Here we show that the transcriptionally active 20-epi analogs, namely KH 1060 and MC 1288, protect VDR against degradation more efficiently than calcitriol at 10(-10) M concentration (VDR t(1/2) > 48 h, 17 h, and 10 h, respectively). The conformationally epi-like analog EB 1089 did not significantly alter the half-life of VDR (10.3 h), but retained the VDR levels over longer periods of time than calcitriol. The transcriptionally weak analog GS 1558, on the other hand, enhanced VDR degradation even more than what was observed with the unliganded receptor (t(1/2) 4.5 h and 5 h, respectively). Inhibition of proteasome activity by the inhibitor MG-132 resulted in a marked increase in the VDR levels in cells treated with the vehicle or GS 1558 (2.5-fold and 2.7-fold, respectively), more than twice the levels observed in the presence of calcitriol or EB 1089 (1.2-fold and 1.1-fold, respectively). MG-132 treatment did not increase the VDR levels in cells treated with KH 1060 or MC 1288. The electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) with nuclear extracts from MG-132-treated cells revealed formation of a high-molecular-weight RXRbeta-VDR-VDRE complex, which also contained Sug1. In the presence of calcitriol, 34% of total VDR in its DNA binding state was present in this complex. The 20-epi analogs effectively prevented the formation of this complex, since, in this case, only 16% of total VDR was found in this complex. These results suggest that KH 1060 and MC 1288 induce a VDR conformation, which prevents binding of proteins mediating receptor degradation. As a result, the regulation of VDR degradation differs from that found with the calcitriol-VDR complex resulting in superactive transcriptional action of the analogs. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.