1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Protects Intestinal Epithelial Barrier by Regulating the Myosin Light Chain Kinase Signaling Pathway

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) pathway controls intestinal epithelial barrier permeability by regulating the tight junction. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)(2)D(3))-vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling protects the epithelial barrier, but the molecular mechanism is incompletely understood. METHODS: MLCK activation and barrier permeability were studied using monolayers of HCT116, Caco-2 and SW480 cells treated with TNF-α ±1,25(OH)(2)D(3). The MLCK pathway was analyzed in normal and inflamed colonic biopsies from ulcerative colitis patients. Colonic mucosal barrier permeability and MLCK activation were also investigated using TNBS-induced colitis models in vitamin D analog paricalcitol-treated wild-type mice and mice carrying VDR deletion in colonic epithelial cells. RESULTS: TNF-α increased cell monolayer permeability and induced long isoform of MLCK expression and myosin II regulatory light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, and 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) blocked TNF-α-induced increases in monolayer permeability and MLCK-MLC pathway activation by a VDR-dependent fashion. 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) directly suppressed long MLCK expression by attenuating NF-κB activation, and ChIP assays confirmed that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) disrupted p65 binding to three κB sites in long MLCK gene promoter. In human ulcerative colitis biopsies VDR reduction was associated with increases in long MLCK expression and MLC phosphorylation. In TNBS colitis models, paricalcitol ameliorated colitis, attenuated the increase in mucosal barrier permeability and inhibited long MLCK induction and MLC phosphorylation. In contrast, mice with colonic epithelial VDR deletion exhibited more robust increases in mucosal barrier permeability and MLCK activation compared with wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3)-VDR signaling preserves the mucosal barrier integrity by abrogating MLCK-dependent tight junction dysregulation during colonic inflammation.