title: Vitamin D3 stimulates embryonic stem cells but inhibits migration and growth of ovarian cancer and teratocarcinoma cell lines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deficiency in Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) may predispose to some malignancies, including gonadal tumors and in experimental models vitamin D3 has been proven to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. To learn more about the potential role of vitamin D3 in cancerogenesis, we evaluated the expression and functionality of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and its role in metastasis of ovarian cancer cells and of murine and human teratocarcinoma cell lines.
  
  
  METHODS
  In our studies we employed murine embrynic stem cells (ESD3), murine (P19) and human (NTERA-2) teratocarcimona cells lines, human ovarian cancer cells (A2780) as well as purified murine and human purified very small embryonic like stem cells (VSELs). We evaluated expression of Vitamin D3 receptor (VDR) in these cells as well as effect of vitamin D3 exposure on cell proliferation and migration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We here provide also more evidence for the role of vitamin D3 in germline-derived malignancies, and this evidence supports the proposal that vitamin D3 treatment inhibits growth and metastatic potential of several germline-derived malignancies. We also found that the ESD3 murine immortalized embryonic stem cell line and normal, pluripotent, germline-marker-positive very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) isolated from adult tissues are stimulated by vitamin D3, which suggests that vitamin D3 affects the earliest stages of embryogenesis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that however all normal and malignant germ-line derived cells express functional VDR, Vitamin D3 differently affects their proliferation and migration. We postulate that while Vitamin D3 as anticancer drug inhibits proliferation of malignant cells, it may protect normal stem cells that play an important role in development and tissue/organ regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Institute at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 500 S. Floyd Street, Rm. 107, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdelbaset-Ismail
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Institute at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 500 S. Floyd Street, Rm. 107, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pedziwiatr
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suszyńska
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Sylwia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sluczanowska-Glabowska
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Institute at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 500 S. Floyd Street, Rm. 107, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Institute at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 500 S. Floyd Street, Rm. 107, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
authors.forename: Sham S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kakar
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Institute at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 500 S. Floyd Street, Rm. 107, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA. mzrata01@louisville.edu.|Department of Regenerative Medicine Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. mzrata01@louisville.edu.
authors.forename: Mariusz Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Ratajczak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000066449:Human Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D000066450:Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism; D018243:Teratocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D002117:Calcitriol
keywords: Germline tumors; Ovarian cancer; Teratocarcinoma; VDR; VSELs; Vitamin D3