Vitamin D Receptor: Molecular Signaling and Actions of Nutritional Ligands in Disease Prevention

The document from 2008 discusses the role of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in various biological processes, including maintaining bone mineral balance, detoxification, cancer prevention, and regulating hair growth. It explains that VDR functions by binding with dietary ligands and influencing gene expression through its interaction with the retinoid X receptor and various coactivators or corepressors. Specifically, VDR's interaction with the corepressor hairless (Hr) is noted to be crucial for hair cycling, and this function is independent of the VDR's endocrine ligand, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3). Additionally, the document identifies new dietary ligands for VDR, such as curcumin, gamma-tocotrienol, and derivatives of essential fatty acids, suggesting these compounds may be important for VDR's biological actions.