Calcitriol Induces Paraoxonase 1 Expression in HepG2 Cells: Possible Involvement of VDR-Dependent and Alternative Pathways

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an antioxidant enzyme that plays physio-pathological roles. Prior in silico analysis revealed the presence of response elements of the nuclear receptor superfamily in the <i>PON1</i> promoter, comparable to glucocorticoid receptors (GR), the vitamin D receptor (VDR), and the pregnenolone X receptor (PXR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃, a ligand specific to VDR, on the expression and activity of PON1 in hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2 cells). PON1 activities (arylesterase/AREase and lactonase/LACase) were determined by spectrophotometry. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to evaluate the effect of VDR and PXR on the mRNA levels of <i>PON1</i> and <i>CYP3A4</i> genes. Molecular models and dynamics simulations were built using specialized software. Treatments with 1α,25-dyhydroxyvitamin D₃ (calcitriol), its active hormonal form, resulted in an induction of <i>PON1</i> mRNA and AREase activity compared to control cultures. These results suggest that calcitriol plays a role in the regulation of <i>PON1</i> transcription and provide evidence that this hormone increases PON1 levels in HepG2 cells. In addition, the molecular modeling suggests that calcitriol enhances PON1 activity and this increase could be caused by direct interaction on the PON1 protein. This study shows the effects of calcitriol on <i>PON1</i> expression, proposing a new molecular mechanism for the transcriptional regulation of <i>PON1</i> through a process linked to VDR activation and direct interaction of calcitriol on the PON1 protein.