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PW-049 Cofactor & Vitamin Metabolism Anabolic (hormone activation) unreviewed

Vitamin D Activation

7-Dehydrocholesterol (skin) Calcitriol (1,25-(OH)2-D3)
Compartment
Skin, liver ER, renal proximal tubule mitochondria
Main tissue
Skin -> liver -> kidney
Rate-limiting
1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1)
Steps
4

Reaction steps

In source order, 4 total

showing 1–4
  1. 1

    7-Dehydrocholesterol + UVB -> previtamin D3 -> cholecalciferol (D3)

    Non-enzymatic photolysis (UVB ~290-315 nm) ST-0360 Irreversible/directional
    › Notes

    Occurs in the epidermis; limited by skin pigmentation, latitude, season and sunscreen.

  2. 2

    Cholecalciferol -> 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (calcidiol)

    › Notes

    Hepatic and essentially unregulated, so serum 25-OH-D is the storage form and the assay used to assess vitamin D status.

  3. 3

    25-Hydroxyvitamin D -> 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol)

    1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) 1.14.15.18 ST-0362 Irreversible rate-limiting NADPH O2
    › Notes

    Rate-limiting and tightly regulated step, in the proximal renal tubule: up-regulated by PTH and hypophosphataemia, suppressed by FGF-23 and by calcitriol itself.

  4. 4

    25-OH-D or calcitriol -> 24,25-(OH)2-D / calcitroic acid

    24-Hydroxylase (CYP24A1) 1.14.15.16 ST-0363 Irreversible/directional NADPH O2
    › Notes

    Inactivation arm; induced by calcitriol. Loss-of-function causes idiopathic infantile hypercalcaemia.

Showing all 4 steps.

Recent literature

Live Europe PMC search

Europe PMC · fetched just now · sorted by publication date

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Targeting the gut-bone axis in osteoporosis: probiotic interventions and other microbiota-based therapeutic strategies.

    Zhao K, Zhang Z, Tang Z, Man X, Liu J, Feng R, Li K, Jiang Y, Li T. · 2026-09-17

    open access unreviewed
  3. 3
  4. 4
    Novel insights into the role of the renal interstitial microenvironment in Randall's plaque formation (Review).

    Wang J, Liao Z, Liu M, Wang Y, Cui Y, Chen H, Zeng F, Zhu Z. · 2026-10-02

    open access unreviewed
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
    Lipid nanoparticles as active biointerfaces: From membrane interaction to systemic dysregulation.

    Seger F, Gutschi LM, Seneff S. · 2026-07-06

    open access unreviewed
  8. 8
    Vitamin D-dependent Rickets Type 1A: Recognizing Clinical Clues to Avoid Delayed Diagnosis.

    da Rocha Ribas PA, Zeghbi Cochenski Borba V. · 2026-09-12

    open access unreviewed
  9. 9
    Amino Acid Metabolism in Health and Disease.

    Su Z, Liu J, Deng X, Luo Y, Xue H, Wang L, Xing L, Wu T. · 2026-08-28

    open access unreviewed
  10. 10

External claims. These come from an index outside this database and are not checked against it. Treat them as leads.