Vitamin D. Its effect on the protein composition and core material structure of the chick intestinal brush-border...

Vitamin D3 is known to stimulate the absorption of calcium across the asymmetric intestinal epithelial cells. Efforts to elucidate the mechanism of stimulation of intestinal calcium transport by vitamin D are now focused on evaluating the protein composition and topology of the brush-border membrane and its associated core material. Intestinal brush-border membranes were isolated from vitamin D-replete and vitamin D-deficient chicks. Core material proteins were isolated, by sedimentation, from brush-border membranes which were solubilized with Triton X-100. As determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, dietary vitamin D3 treatment caused no change in the relative amounts of five major core material proteins with Mr = 101,000, 94,000, 67,000, 42,000 (actin), and 17,000. In contrast, dietary vitamin D3 treatment caused a significant reduction in the levels of two proteins with Mr = 111,000 (sucrase) and 83,000, and an increase in the levels of a protein with Mr = 78,000 (possibly a subunit of alkaline phosphatase). The Mr = 111,000, 83,000, and 78,000 proteins are readily solubilized by Triton X-100 and are located on the extracellular surface of the brush-border membrane, as judged by [125I]diazoiodosulfanilic acid and lactoperoxidase 125I labeling. A significant vitamin D-dependent difference was found with respect to iodination of isolated core material as evidenced by the 125I labeling patterns of the Mr = 42,000 protein (actin). The Mr = 42,000 protein was labeled two to three times more extensively when associated with core material derived from vitamin D-deficient chicks as compared to vitamin D-replete chicks. Increasing the salt concentration (0-125 mM KCl) present during core material isolation from either vitamin D-replete or vitamin D-deficient chicks yields core material actin which is more susceptible to iodination by both [125I]diazoiodosulfanilic acid and lactoperoxidase. This increase in the extent of actin iodination is coupled to a salt-induced decrease in the stability of the core material which is evidenced by a decrease in the percentage of total brush-border membrane actin which is Triton-insoluble. This strongly suggests that the vitamin D-induced decrease in the accessibility of actin to iodination reagents results from a vitamin D-dependent change in the structure of the core material. Collectively, these results implicate a role for dietary vitamin D3 in maintaining a specified composition and topology of both the brush-border membrane proteins as well as its associated cytoskeletal core proteins, which is possibly important for intestinal calcium transport.