Calcitriol Inhibits Hedgehog Signaling and Induces Vitamin D Receptor Signaling and Differentiation in the Patched Mouse Model of Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma
Figure 1
Calcitriol inhibits Hh signaling and proliferation and induces Vdr signaling and differentiation of primary ERMS cultures of Ptch neo67/+ mice. (a) Vdr expression levels of ERMS () compared to normal skeletal muscle (SM; ). (b) Gli1 and Cyp24a1 expression levels and (c) BrdU incorporation of primary ERMS cultures after treatment with vehicle (EtOH), calcitriol, or cyclopamine (CP). (d) MyoD1, MRF4, and p27 expression levels and (e) activity of caspase 3 and 7 of primary ERMS cultures after treatment with EtOH, calcitriol or CP. Values of vehicle-treated controls for Gli1, MyoD1, MRF4, and p27 expression were set to 1. Expression levels were normalized to the expression of 18S rRNA gene. For BrdU incorporation or caspase 3/7 assays, cells treated with serum-free medium or 500 nM staurosporine (Sigma-Aldrich) served as positive controls, respectively. The values of BrdU incorporation and caspase 3/7 activity represent the percentage of respective vehicle-treated control, which was set to 1. Asterisks: ; error bars: mean ± SD.
