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The presence of CYP24A1 mutations explains the increased sensitivity to vitamin D in patients with idiopathic infantile hypercalcemia and is a genetic risk factor for the development of symptomatic hypercalcemia that may be triggered by vitamin D prophylaxis in otherwise apparently healthy infants.

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signal transduction system, the DBP-knockout mouse is normocalcemic and exhibits normal tissue distribution of vitamin D metabolites and vitamin D action despite exhibiting very low blood levels of 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 . This unexpected phenotype raised questions about DBP's exact role: essential transporter or buffer against toxicity ( 7,8 ). Work performed on the 25-hydroxylases over the past four decades in humans and a variety of animal species has revealed that several cytochrome P450 enzymes 2 (CYP), such as CYP2R1, CYP27A1, CYP3A4, CYP2D25, and perhaps others, are capable of 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D 3 or related compounds. These CYPs can be referred to as vitamin D 3 -25-hydroxylases, and it is CYP2R1 that is emerging as the physiologically relevant enzyme ( 9 ). On the other hand, there is no ambiguity over the second step of 1 ␣ -hydroxylation or the 25-OH-D 3 -1 ␣ -hydroxylase enzyme responsible, which is carried by a single cytochrome P450 2 named CYP27B1 ( 10-12 ). The inactivation of vitamin D is carried out by the mitochondrial enzyme, 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 -24-hydroxylase, fi rst described in the early 1970s and initially believed to be involved solely in the renal 24-hydroxylation of 25-OH-D 3 ( 13 ). Work performed over the last 35 years has shown that 24-hydroxylase enzyme activity is the result of CYP24A1 ( 5, 14 ). CYP24A1 catalyzes the conversion of both 25-OH-D 3 and 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 into a series of 24-and 23-hydroxylated products targeted for excretion along well-established pathways culminating in the water-soluble biliary metabolite calcitroic acid or a 26,23-lactone.This article assembles the most currently pertinent literature on the activating and inactivating enzymes of vitamin D metabolism and highlights protein structure and enzymatic properties, crystal structures, gene organization, and The activation of vitamin D 3 is accomplished by sequential steps of 25-hydroxylation to produce the main circulating form, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D 3 ), followed by 1 ␣ -hydroxylation to the hormonal form, 1 ␣ ,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 ) ( 1 ) ( Fig. 1 ). The initial step of 25-hydroxylation occurs in the liver ( 2 ), and the second step occurs both in the kidney and extrarenal sites ( 3, 4 ). The fat-soluble vitamin D and its metabolites are transported from one tissue to another on the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP), which shows different affi nity for the individual metabolites ( 5 ). The cell-surface receptor megalin-cubilin is thought to facilitate the endocytosis of a DBP-bound 25-OH-D 3 into a number of cell types, especially kidney cells ( 6 ). While it is widely believed that DBP is an essential component of the vitamin D

In order to understand the regulation of trypsin genes by the blood meal, we constructed a cDNA library from mRNA isolated from midguts of blood-fed female Aedes aegypti. The library was screened with a Drosophila melanogaster trypsin-like gene; twelve cDNAs were isolated and sequenced. Two clones were 846 bp and 788 bp long with 762 bp and 716 bp open reading frames, respectively. The cDNAs were identified as coding for serine proteases by the presence of conserved serine, histidine and aspartic acid residues; the presence of an aspartate residue at position 176 suggests that the clones were derived from trypsin-like gene transcripts rather than chymotrypsin or other serine proteases. One of the clones contained a 5' untranslated region and coding regions for putative signal and activation peptides, suggesting that the product is secreted as an inactive zymogen and processed by autoactivation. Southern analysis of genomic DNA suggests that trypsin is encoded by a multigene family in A. aegypti.