The vitamin D metabolite, 24,25(OH)2D3 has been reported to have hormonal activity. Catalase has been reported to be a binding protein for 24,25(OH)2D3, based on sequence analysis of the protein isolated on the basis of specific binding of the metabolite. In the current work, we report that 24R,25(OH)2D3, not 24S,25(OH)2D3] is the effective metabolite for catalase redistribution as judged by confocal microscopy. We have used male chick intestinal cells treated with either vehicle, 24S,25(OH)2D3], 24R,25(OH)2D3 or 1,25(OH) 2D3]to determine the localization of catalase. Confocal microscopy analyses showed punctate staining, on the cell surface and in the cytoplasm of cells treated with vehicle, 24R,25(OH)2D3, 24S,25(OH)2D3] or 1,25(OH) 2D3]for all time points tested. Cells treated with 24R,25(OH)2D3 showed punctuate staining of catalase inside the nucleus. Western analysis confirmed that the punctuate staining in the nucleus arose from the redistribution of cell surface catalase. Western analysis also indicated 24S,25(OH)2D3] treatment resulted in redistribution of catalase to the nucleus, but to a lesser extent than treatment with 24R,25(OH)2D3. By understanding the molecular and cellular actions of 24,25(OH)2D3 in chick intestine, progress will be made in enhancing phosphate and calcium absorption in animals to supply the minerals for adequate bone growth, and phosphate in manure of production animals could be diminished.
Vitamin D was discovered in 1922 and has been categorized as a pre-hormone ever since, based on the fact that the utilization of most vitamin D in higher animals undergoes a photochemical process. Activation of vitamin D starts in the liver with the production of major circulating metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3], followed by hydroxylation in the kidneys to yield two metabolites, either 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] made when phosphate and calcium levels are low or 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [24,25(OH)2D3]] made when phosphate and calcium levels are high.
24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is no longer considered as an inactive metabolite. Earlier studies showed that in order to reach normal chick hatchability [
In chick intestinal cells, hormone-stimulated phosphate uptake is initiated by ligand binding to the 1,25D3-membrane associated, rapid response steroid-binding receptor – 1,25D3-MARRS [
In intestinal cells, studies showed 1,25D3-stimulated phosphate uptake is mediated by PKC signaling [
In this study, chick enterocytes were used to determine the localization of catalase in response to different vitamin D steroid hormones. Western analysis was performed to verify the results from confocal microscopy.
All surgical procedures were approved by Utah State University Institutional Animal Use and Care Committee. White leghorn cockerels were obtained on the day of hatch (Privett Hatchery, Portales, NM) and raised on a commercially available vitamin D-replete diet (Nutrena Feeds, Murray, UT) generally for 3-7 weeks prior to experimentation. On the day of use, chicks were anesthetized with anhydrous ethyl ether (Fisher Scientific, Fair Lawn, NJ). The abdominal cavity was surgically opened and the duodenal loop was removed to ice-cold 0.9% saline solution and chilled for 15 min. The pancreas was excised from the duodenal loop and discarded. The duodenal loop was everted and rinsed three times in chilled saline solution.
The chick intestinal cells were isolated with citrate chelation media (96 mM NaCl, 27 mM Citrate Anhydrous, 1.5 mM KCl, 8 mM KH2PO4, 5.6 mM Na2HPO4, pH 5.0 - the acidic pH promotes viability and retention of morphology) [3,18]. The cells were collected by low speed centrifugation (500 x g, 5 min, 4ºC), and cell pellets were resuspended in a small volume of Gey’s balanced salt solution (GBSS, containing 119 mM NaCl, 4.96 mM KCl, 0.22 mM KH2PO4, 0.84 mM NaHPO4, 1.03 mM MgCl2•6H2O, 0.28 mM MgSO4•7H2O, 0.9 mM CaCl2, pH 7.3). Aliquots of the cell suspension (0.4 ml) were pipetted into 35 mmplastic Petri dishes (Falcon, Scientific Products; Franklin Lakes, NJ) containing 1.5 ml of RPMI 1640 medium and antibiotics (100 units/ ml penicillin, 100 mg/ml streptomycin, Sigma Chemical Co, St. Louis, Mo). The cells were incubated overnight in the absence of serum at 37ºC with 5% CO2/95% air to promote cell adhesion.
The following morning, media were replaced with 0.1% BSA in GBSS (GBSS-BSA, Bovine Serum Albumin, Sigma, St. Louis, MO) and cells treated either with vehicle (0.01% ethanol) or hormone for 15 sec to 60 min (15 sec, 30 sec, 7 min, 10 min, 15 min, 25 min, 30 min, 40 min, 50 min, 60 min). At the end of each time point, media were replaced with 4% paraformaldehyde (Electron Microscopy Sciences, Hatfield, PA), 3% sucrose in PBS (phosphate buffered saline) and fixed for 30 min. After washing with 0.1% PBS-BSA, cells were incubated with 0.05% NaBH4 in PBS for 5 min to eliminate auto-fluorescence in the brush border, then washed and permeabilized with 0.15% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min for intracellular catalase activity, or without Triton X-100 for surface catalase activity. After washing with 0.1% PBSBSA, cells were overlaid with normal rabbit serum (JacksonImmuno Research, West Grove, PA) for 5 min and then washed. Coverslips were then overlaid with primary antibody Ab365 (a highly specific polyclonal antibody, Center for Integrated BioSystems, Logan, UT) for 30 min (1/1000 in 0.1% PBS-BSA), and then incubated for another 30 min (after addition of more PBS-BSA to prevent drying), washed, and then overlaid with fluorescently-tagged secondary antibody Alexa Fluor 594 (Jackson Immuno Research, West Grove, PA), excitation at 591 nm and emission at 614 nm; and Phalloidin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (with excitation at 495 nm and emission at 513 nm) for 30 min. Coverslips were then washed three times. After the final wash, the coverslips were placed over mounting media (10% 1 M Tris, 80% glycerol) on a microscope slide, and sealed for subsequent confocal microscopy analysis. A Nikon TE-200 microscope (BioRad) was used for confocal imaging. Images were collected with ZEN software, using a 60x oil immersion objective and further processed with ImageJ and Adobe Photoshop CS5.
The isolated intestinal cells described above were collected by centrifugation at 500×g, 5 min (4ºC), and resuspended in 30 ml of GBSS. 5 ml of the cell suspensions were combined with test substance in GBSS to give a final concentration of 0.01% ethanol, 6.5 nM 24R,25(OH)2D3 and 200 pM 24S,25(OH)2D3]. The cells were incubated for 10 minutes and 25 minutes, then 1 ml were removed to 10 ml of ice-cold PBS for cytoplasmic and nuclear extraction. The extraction procedure involves mixing with a series of detergents in the presence of protease inhibitors.
SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses were used to determine immunoreactive levels of catalase in control and vitamin D treated cells. Protein was determined with the Bradford reagent (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) and then samples (5-30 µg/well) were separated on 8% (wt/vol) SDS-PAGE gels with 5% stacking gels. After separation on SDS-PAGE, proteins were transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes (Immobilon-P, Fisher Scientific) by the use of a TransBlot SD Semidry transfer cell (Bio-Rad.) and Western analyses were performed. To avoid nonspecific binding, the membrane was soaked for 1 hr at 37ºC in blocking solution (0.5% nonfat dry milk in phosphate buffered saline (PBS; 0.9% NaCl and 10 mM Na2HPO4, pH 7.4), followed by washing three times for 5 min each time with washing solution (0.1%(wt/vol) BSA in Tris-buffered saline (TBS; 0.9% NaCl in 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4), and incubation with primary antibody (Abcam Inc., Cambridge, MA) overnight at 4°C. After three additional washes, the membrane was incubated with secondary antibody (alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG) in 1% BSA and 0.05% Tween 20 in TBS for 2 hr at room temperature and then washed as previously indicated. Immunoreactive bands were visualized with the chromogens 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-phosphate/nitro blue tetrazolium, and relative amounts of catalase were quantitated using Adobe Photoshop.
In initial experiments, catalase localization by confocal microscopy was determined by adding hormones before primary antibody Ab365. Chick intestinal cells were cultured in petri dishes, treated with 0.01% ethanol, 6.5 nM 24R,25(OH)2D3, 200 pM 24S,25(OH)2D3, or 300 pM 1,25(OH)2D3, concentrations that have been shown to be equivalent to circulating levels [
The question was raised as to the origin of the nuclear staining. In order to answer that, additional confocal microscopy experiments were undertaken to determine whether cell surface catalase was the source of steroid-mediated nuclear redistribution. In these experiments, primary antibody was first added to cells for 30 min, and subsequently incubated with vehicle, 1,25(OH)2D3, 24S,25(OH)2D3, or 24R,25(OH)2D3.
As a further analysis, catalase staining intensity inside the nucleus was quantified with ImageJ software.
An independent approach was taken to verify these findings. In these experiments, cells were treated with either vehicle, 24S,25(OH)2D3, or 24R,25(OH)2D3 for 10 and 25 min, collected by centrifugation, and resuspended in homogenization buffer for subcellular fractionation. Aliquots of P1 (nuclei, brush borders, and unbroken cells), P2 (peroxisomes, lysosomes, mitochondria, Golgi, and basal lateral membranes, and S2 (microsomes and cytosol), were subjected to SDSpolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, followed by Western blotting. The results reproducibly showed more nuclear redistribution after 24R,25(OH)2D3 treatment compared to 24S,25(OH)2D3 (
This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2010-65206-20652 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Utah Agricultural Experiment Station. Approved as journal paper no. 8672