Suppression of aberrant transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 6 expression in hyperproliferative colonic crypts by dietary calcium.

Dietary calcium is believed to reduce colon cancer risk, but the mechanism by which this occurs is poorly understood. Employing the Citrobacter rodentium-induced transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia (TMCH) model, we previously showed that a high-calcium diet (hCa) significantly abrogated hyperplasia in the distal colons of NIH-Swiss mice. Here, we explored the mechanism of dietary protection by hCa by analyzing the expression of genes involved in the regulation of Ca uptake/flux in the intestinal epithelium, including the Ca-sensing receptor, vitamin D receptor, Ca binding protein, and transient receptor potential cation channels, subfamily V, members 5 and 6 (TRPV5/6). Interestingly, while TRPV6 expression increased significantly during TMCH, the expression of the other gene products was unchanged. This elevated TRPV6 expression was significantly abrogated by a hCa diet. Immunofluorescence revealed apical membrane localization of TRPV6 in the normal colon, whereas during TMCH we observed intense apical pole and cytoplasmic staining along the entire longitudinal crypt axis, including the expanded proliferating zone. The hCa diet reversed this effect. In humans, overexpression of TRPV6 was associated with early-stage colon cancer, and in colon carcinoma cells, inhibition of TRPV6 expression by small interfering RNA inhibited their proliferation and induced apoptosis. TRPV6 small interfering RNA also diminished the transcriptional activity of the calcium-dependent nuclear factors in activated T cells. Thus the aberrant overexpression of TRPV6 contributes to colonic crypt hyperplasia in mice and to colon cancer cell proliferation in humans. Therefore, it is likely that suppression of TRPV6 by a hCa diet is required for its protective effects in the colon.