Induction of 24-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 mRNA by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and phorbol esters in normal rat kidney (NRK-52E) cells.

The biologically active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), acts on intestinal, renal, and bone cells to regulate skeletal and mineral metabolism. 1,25(OH)2D also induces 24-hydroxylase activity in these target cells. The 24-hydroxylase hydroxylates 1,25(OH)2D to 1,24,25-trihydroxyvitamin D and 25(OH)D to 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. The production of 1,24,25-trihydroxyvitamin D is thought to be the first step in the inactivation of 1,25(OH)2D by its target tissues. Previous studies have characterized the induction of the 24-hydroxylase by 1,25(OH)2D in clonal cell lines from intestine and bone. The purpose of these studies was to characterize the induction of the 24-hydroxylase by 1,25(OH)2D in the kidney, using the clonal rat renal cell line NRK-52E. 1,25(OH)2D (10(-7)M) increased the mRNA levels for the cytochrome P450 component of the 24-hydroxylase (P450cc24) by sevenfold after 36 h in NRK-52E cells. 1,25(OH)2D increased P450cc24 mRNA levels in a dose-dependent manner with an EC50 of 10(-8) M. In parallel experiments, 1,25(OH)2D significantly increased 24-hydroxylase enzyme activity after 48-72 h. The increase in P450cc24 mRNA induced by 1,25(OH)2D required ongoing transcription and translation and was inhibited by H-7, a protein kinase C inhibitor. Tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate markedly increased the magnitude of the tissue responsiveness to 1,25(OH)2D by a protein kinase C-dependent pathway. These studies demonstrate that 1,25(OH)2D increases P450cc24 mRNA levels in NRK-52E cells by a mechanism requiring new protein synthesis and involving protein kinase C. This is in contrast to the action of 1,25(OH)2D in intestinal cells, which does not require new protein synthesis, and in osteoblastic cells, which does not involve protein kinase C.