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Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
10-1-2025
Abstract
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone whose active form binds to Vitamin D Receptors (VDR), triggering cancer-associated pathways involved in inducing apoptosis, inhibiting inflammation, improving immunity, and regulating cell proliferation. Ongoing studies have shown a significant correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and the development of aggressive prostate cancer. African American men are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency, develop prostate cancer at a high rate, and have a higher mortality rate than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. African American women are also disproportionately burdened with aggressive breast cancer and have higher rates of vitamin D deficiency. Understanding how a low vitamin D diet alters gene expression in the mammary and kidney tissue of mus musculus (mice) subjects bred from Vitamin D-deficient dams would help in diagnosing and treating breast cancer patients. We hypothesized that mice fed a low vitamin D diet would show significantly altered vitamin D-related gene expression in the benign kidney and mammary tissue compared to mice fed a controlled diet. We evaluated gene expression in tissue samples using Reverse Transcription quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Kidney tissue, the primary site for active Vitamin D synthesis, was used as a positive control for the effect of the diet. We probed for GAPDH and the Vitamin D metabolism genes in kidney samples. Mammary tissues were probed for Vitamin D metabolism genes, some VDR target genes, and breast cancer-related genes. Kidney tissue from the experimental group showed significantly lower expressions of Vitamin D metabolism genes, namely VDR, Lrp2, and CYP24a1, and significantly higher expressions of CYP27B1 compared to the control group. For the mammary tissue, the change in expression of the probed genes between our control and experimental groups were not statistically significant, except for VDR, which was higher in the low vitamin D diet group compared to the control group. In addition to this, we saw a trend in the expression of VEGF, which was lower in our experimental group compared to the control group. These findings indicate that a low vitamin D diet significantly alters expression of vitamin metabolism-related transcripts in kidney tissue, but it does not show a significant effect on VDR target genes in Mammary tissue. From this, we can infer that the intake of vitamin D does not affect gene expression and thus the overall health of benign mammary tissue. We can build on this knowledge with future experiments looking into how a low vitamin D diet changes gene expression in cancerous mammary tissue.
Department
University of Illinois Cancer Center, Department of Pathology Research
Project Mentor
Graham Read, PhD, Adriana Duraki, and Larisa Nonn, PhD
Recommended Citation
Fasogbon, Ibilola; Read, Graham; Duraki, Adriana; and Nonn, Larisa, "Low Vitamin D diet effects on RNA Expression in Kidney and Mammary tissue of mus musculus (mice)" (2025). Annual Student Research Poster Session. 216.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/srfposters/216
Funding and Acknowledgements
American Cancer Society (ACS)