The regulation of the phosphaturic factor fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is not well understood. It was found that administration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25[OH] 2 D 3 ) to mice rapidly increased serum FGF23 concentrations from a basal level of 90.6 ؎ 8.1 to 213.8 ؎ 14.6 pg/ml at 8 h (mean ؎ SEM; P < 0.01) and resulted in a four-fold increase in FGF23 transcripts in bone, the predominate site of FGF23 expression. In the Hyp-mouse homologue of X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, administration of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 further increased circulating FGF23 levels. In Gcm2 null mice, low 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 levels were associated with a three-fold reduction in FGF23 levels that were increased by administration of 1,25 ( FGF23 also suppresses 1␣ hydroxylase activity in the proximal renal tubule, leading to reduced circulating levels of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 (2,10,14,15). The significance of FGF23 regulation of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 production is not clear, but the findings that FGF23 is produced predominantly by osteoblasts in bone and that FGF23 regulates phosphate reabsorption and 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 production by the kidney raise the possibility that FGF23 may be involved in a bone-kidney axis that controls phosphate and vitamin D homeostasis (16,17). How FGF23 is integrated with the vitamin D-parathyroid hormone (PTH) axis, which plays a central role in calcium homeostasis, skeletal development, and mineralization (18), however, is not clear. Understanding the effects of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 on FGF23 production is important, because vitamin D therapy often is used to treat FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic disorders, such as XLH (19).In an effort to understand more fully the regulation of FGF23 expression in osteoblasts and bone, we assessed the effect of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 administration on circulating levels of FGF23 in wild-type Gcm2 null (20) and Hyp mice (21), as well as the effects of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 on the FGF23 transcripts in bone. In addition, we investigated the ability of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 to regulate endogenous FGF23 transcripts and the activity of a transfected murine FGF23 promoter luciferase reporter in osteoblasts. Our findings demonstrate the importance of bone as a target for vitamin D-mediated increments in FGF23 production and suggest that FGF23 production serves as a counterregulatory hormone to enhance renal phosphate clearance in response to vitamin D-mediated increments in gastrointestinal phosphate absorption and decrements in the phosphaturic hormone PTH.
Materials and Methods
1,25(OH) 2 D 3 and PTH AdministrationBoth Hyp mice (21) and C57BL/6J mice were purchased from Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). Male and female Gcm2 ϩ/Ϫ mice were mated to generate homozygous Gcm2 null mice that lacked parathyroid glands (22). All mice were maintained and used in accordance with recommendations in