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- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
Vitamin D, a bioactive lipid and essential nutrient, is obtained by humans through either endogenous synthesis in response to UV light exposure or via nutritional intake. Once activated to its hormonal form, vitamin D binds to and activates the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR). Activation of VDR is known to modulate gene transcription in vitamin D target tissues such as kidney, colon, and bone; however, less is known about the ability of VDR to respond to "nutritional modulators". One such potential VDR modulator is resveratrol, a plant-derived polyphenol and potent antioxidant nutrient that also functions as a chemopreventative. Resveratrol is known to activate sirtuin-1, a deacetylase enzyme with potential anti-aging properties. This study explores the potential for resveratrol, an anticancer nutraceutical, to upregulate VDR activity through its effector protein, sirtuin-1. Furthermore, due to its putative interactions with several intracellular signaling pathways, klotho has been proposed as an anti-aging protein and tumor suppressor gene, while the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway drives enhanced cellular proliferation leading to numerous types of cancers, especially colorectal neoplasia. Thus, the ability of klotho to cooperate with vitamin D to inhibit oncogenic β-catenin signaling was also analyzed. The experiments and resultant data presented in this thesis explore the potential role of VDR as a physiologically relevant nutritional sensor in human cells. This novel study reveals the importance of nutrient modulation of the VDR system by vitamin D and resveratrol and how this might represent a molecular mechanism that is responsible for the putative anti-cancer actions of vitamin D. Furthermore, this study enhances our understanding of how vitamin D/VDR and resveratrol interact with klotho and how this interaction affects β-catenin signaling to mitigate oncogenic growth and differentiation. This works demonstrates that the vitamin D hormone serves as a likely chemopreventive agent for various types of cancers through control of anti-oxidation and cellular proliferation pathways via its nuclear receptor. Our results also indicate the potential for resveratrol, an anticancer nutraceutical, to upregulate VDR activity through SIRT1. Furthermore, the novel data presented in this work illustrate that klotho, an anti-aging protein, cooperates with vitamin D to synergistically inhibit oncogenic β-catenin signaling. Ultimately, this study enhances our understating of the molecular pathways that underpin nutritional chemoprevention, and how modulation of these pathways via dietary intervention may lead to advances in public health strategies to eventually curb carcinogenesis.
ContributorsKhan, Zainab (Author) / Jurutka, Peter (Thesis director) / Hackney Price, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Bexarotene (Bex) is a FDA-approved drug used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). It binds with high affinity to the retinoid-X-receptor (RXR), a nuclear receptor implicated in numerous biological pathways. Bex may have the potential to attenuate estrogenic activity by acting as an estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling antagonist, and can therefore be used to treat ERα-positive cancers, such as breast cancer. Using dual luciferase reporter assays, real-time qRT-PCR, and metabolic proliferation assays, the anti-estrogenic properties of Bex were ascertained. However, since Bex produces numerous contraindications, select novel RXR drug analogs were also evaluated. Results revealed that, in luciferase assays, Bex could significantly (P < 0.01) inhibit the transcriptional activity of ERα, so much so that it rivaled ER pan-antagonist ZK164015 in potency. Bex was also able to suppress the proliferation of two breast cancer cell models, MCF-7 and T-47D, and downregulate the expression of an estrogen receptor target gene (A-myb), which is responsible for cell proliferation. In addition, novel analogs A30, A33, A35, and A38 were evaluated as being more potent at inhibiting ERE-mediated transcription than Bex at lower concentrations. Analogs A34 and A35 were able to suppress MCF-7 cell proliferation to a degree comparable to that of Bex. Inhibition of T-47D cell proliferation, by contrast, was best achieved by analogs A34 and A36. For those with ERα – positive breast cancer who are refractory to current chemotherapeutics used to treat breast cancer, Bex and its analogs may prove to be useful alternative options.
ContributorsBains, Supreet (Author) / Jurutka, Peter (Thesis director) / Hackney Price, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12