The Role of Vitamin D Stimulation of Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) in Prostate Cancer Therapy

We propose that MIS regulation may be an important element contributing to the ability of 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D3 calcitriol to inhibit the growth and progression of prostate cancer cells. We have shown that calcitriol acts by several pathways to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells 1-5. In the current studies we show that calcitriol also stimulates the expression of MIS in a standard human prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP. We further show that the up-regulation of MIS expression is mediated directly by calcitriol binding to the vitamin d receptor VDR and the complex subsequently interacting with a vitamin D regulatory element VDRE in the MIS gene promoter.