Abstract
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For many individuals,
in particular during winter, supplementation
with the secosteroid vitamin D3 is essential for the prevention
of bone disorders, muscle weakness, autoimmune diseases, and possibly
also different types of cancer. Vitamin D3 acts via its
metabolite 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3]
as potent agonist of the transcription factor vitamin D receptor (VDR).
Thus, vitamin D directly affects chromatin structure and gene regulation
at thousands of genomic loci, i.e., the epigenome and transcriptome
of its target tissues. Modifications of 1,25(OH)2D3 at its
side-chain, A-ring, triene system, or C-ring, alone and in combination,
as well as nonsteroidal mimics provided numerous potent VDR agonists
and some antagonists. The nearly 150 crystal structures of VDR’s
ligand-binding domain with various vitamin D compounds allow a detailed
molecular understanding of their action. This review discusses the
most important vitamin D analogs presented during the past 10 years
and molecular insight derived from new structural information on the
VDR protein.
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