title: Vitamin D: Proteases, protease inhibitors and cancer.
abstract: The active vitamin D metabolite 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25(OH)(2)D(3), Calcitriol) is a major regulator of gene expression in higher organisms. Protein abundance is an endpoint of gene expression that results from the balance between induction and degradation and is essential for adequate cell function. Proteins are degraded by proteases whose activity is in turn controlled by a number of endogenous protease inhibitors. 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) regulates several proteases and protease inhibitors in different cell types, putatively contributing to its regulatory effects of cell physiology. We have recently shown that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) strongly induces the expression of cystatin D, an inhibitor of several cysteine proteases of the cathepsin family. Cystatin D induction may contribute to the antitumor effect of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) against colon cancer by mechanisms that are both dependent and independent of cathepsin inhibition. Transcriptomic studies suggest that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) also modulates the function of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Thus, proteases and protease inhibitors are candidates to mediate to a certain extent the complex action of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) in cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Díaz
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Larriba
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-Otín
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015891:Cystatins / Q000378:metabolism; D057056:Cysteine Proteases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D057057:Serine Proteases / Q000378:metabolism; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D015891:Cystatins; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D014807:Vitamin D; D057056:Cysteine Proteases; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D057057:Serine Proteases; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; D002117:Calcitriol