Fibroblast growth factor-21 potentiates the stimulatory effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on transepithelial calcium transport and TRPV6 Ca2+channel expression

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is a salient liver-derived endocrine regulator for metabolism of glucose and triglyceride as well as bone remodeling. Previously, certain peptides in the FGF family have been shown to modulate calcium absorption across the intestinal epithelia. Since FGF21 receptor, i.e., FGF receptor-1, is abundantly expressed in the enterocytes, there was a possibility that FGF21 might exert direct actions on the intestine. Herein, a large-scale production of recombinant FGF21 at the multi-gram level was developed in order to minimize variations among various batches. In the oral glucose tolerance test, recombinant FGF21 was found to reduce plasma glucose levels in mice fed high-fat diet. A series of experiments applying radioactive tracer 45Ca in Ussing chamber showed that FGF21 potentiated the stimulatory effect of low-dose 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [10 nM 1,25(OH)2D3] on the transepithelial calcium transport across intestinal epithelium-like Caco-2 monolayer. FGF21 + 1,25(OH)2D3 also decreased transepithelial resistance, but had no effect on epithelial potential difference or short-circuit current. Furthermore, 1,25(OH)2D3 alone upregulated the Caco-2 mRNA expression of the major apical calcium channels, i.e., transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 6 (TRPV6), which was further elevated by a combination of FGF21 and 1,25(OH)2D3, consistent with the upregulated TRPV6 protein expression in enterocytes of FGF21-treated mice. However, FGF21 was without effects on the mRNA expression of voltage-gated calcium channel 1.3, calbindin-D9k, plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase 1b, claudin-12 or claudin-15. In conclusion, FGF21 did exert a direct action on the intestinal epithelial cells by potentiating the 1,25(OH)2D3-enhanced calcium transport, presumably through the upregulation of TRPV6 expression.