Alternative pathways activated by vitamin D

It is well established that vitamin D has significant impact on our health. Vitamin D is naturally occurring hormone produced in the skin subjected to ultraviolet radiation. In an addition to calcium homoeostasis it regulates cell proliferation and differentiation. Vitamin D deficiency was linked with occurrence and progression of several civilization diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and numerous types of cancer (Wierzbicka et al., 2014). It is well established, that an active form of vitamin D, calcitriol (1,25(OH)2D3), by the activation of vitamin D nuclear receptor (VDR) modulates expression of hundreds of human genes (Campbell, 2014). However, VDR-mediated transcriptional modulation does not fully explain dynamics and variety of phenotypic effects of vitamin D. Recently, fast response or non-genomic response to vitamin D has been described, but the detail mechanisms and its significance are still far from being understood.The aim of the project is to explore and validate new intracellular targets, pathways and mechanisms affected by vitamin D on the model of human keratinocytes and A431 cell line.