Differential regulation of vitamin D responsive elements in normal and transformed keratinocytes

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) derived from human epidermis fail to differentiate normally under the influence of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] despite the presence of the vitamin D receptor. Previous studies from our laboratory showed that phospholipase C-gamma1 (PLC-gamma1) was upregulated transcriptionally by 1,25(OH)2D3 in normal human keratinocytes, and a vitamin D responsive element (VDRE) in its promoter region has been identified. To examine the inducibility of human PLC-gamma1 transcription by 1,25(OH)2D3 and/or retinoic acid in SCC cell lines, we transiently transfected SCC4 and SCC12B2 cells with human PLC-gamma1 promoter-luciferase constructs containing the VDRE and tested the response of these constructs to 1,25(OH)2D3 and/or all-trans retinoic acid. The induction of the human PLC-gamma1 VDRE by 1,25(OH)2D3 was synergistic with all-trans retinoic acid in normal human keratinocytes, but none of the constructs was induced by 1,25(OH)2D3 and/or all-trans retinoic acid in SCC4 and SCC12B2 cells. In contrast, the construct containing the VDRE of the human 24-hydroxylase gene was induced several fold by 1,25(OH)2D3 in normal human keratinocytes and by both 1,25(OH)2D3 and all-trans retinoic acid in SCC4 and SCC12B2 cells. DNA mobility shift assays showed that both the vitamin D receptor and the retinoic acid receptor in SCC4 and SCC12B2 cells bound the human PLC-gamma1 VDRE similarly to that seen in normal keratinocytes. The data indicate that the VDRE in the human PLC-gamma1 gene is not functional in SCC4 and SCC12B2 cells, unlike normal human keratinocytes, even though vitamin D receptors bind normally to it. Failure of transcriptional control of the PLC-gamma1 gene by 1,25(OH)2D3 suggests the lack of a cofactor(s) linking the VDRE to the transcriptional machinery.