Vitamin D3 Receptor Cdna Clone, Deletion Mutants Were Constructed And Their Transcriptional Regulatory Mechanisms In T Cells

Receptor for 1, 25-(OH)₃VitaminD3 (VDR) belongs to the steroid receptor superfamily, members of which mediate broad biological functions including development, differentiation and homeostasis. In the presence of their ligands, steroid receptors exert their function by binding to specific sequences (HRE) of the target gene. Recent reports ha?e shown that some receptors can also regulate gene transcription through direct protein -protein interaction without binding to DNA.Like other steroid receptors, VDR exerts its effects on gene regulation mainly by binding to specific sequeces (VDRE) of the target gene. Whether VDR can regulate gene transcription with a protein- protein mechanism has not been reported. VDR is classically considered chiefly to regulate transcription of genes inrolved in calcium metabolism and bone formation. However, it has been shown that VDR is expressed in almost all kinds of tissues, including cells of the immune system, indicating that VDR might have broader biological functions other than those on calcium and bone formation.