(23
S,25
S)-
N-Benzyl-1
,25-dihydroxyvitamin D
3-26,23-lactam ((23
S,25
S)-
N-benzyl-1
,25-(OH)
2D
3-26,23-lactam, (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-1P) antagonizes nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR)-mediated differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells [Y. Kato, Y. Nakano, H. Sano, A. Tanatani, H. Kobayashi, R. Shimazawa, H. Koshino, Y. Hashimoto, K. Nagasawa, Synthesis of 1
,25-dihydroxy vitamin D
3-26,23-lactams (DLAMs), a novel series of 1
,25-dihydroxy vitamin D
3 antagonist, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 14 (2004) 2579–2583]. To enhance its VDR antagonistic actions, we synthesized multiple analogues of 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3-26,23-lactam. Among these analogues, (23
S,25
S)-
N-phenetyl-1
,25-(OH)
2D
3-26,23-lactam, ((23
S,25
S)-DLAM-2P) had the strongest VDR binding affinity, which was 3 times higher than that of (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-1P. The 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3-26,23-lactam analogues never induced HL-60 cell differentiation even at 10
−6 M, but (23
S,25S)-DLAM-1P and (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-2P significantly and dose-dependently inhibited HL-60 differentiation induced by 10
−8 M 1
,25-dihydroxyvitamin D
3 (1
,25-(OH)
2D
3). These compounds also inhibited human and mouse cultures of osteoclast formation by marrow cells treated with 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3. Moreover, the 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3-26,23-lactam analogues minimally induced 25-hydroxyvitamin D
3-24-hydroxylase gene expression in HL-60 cells and human and mouse osteoblastic cells, but 10
−6 M (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-1P or (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-2P significantly blocked 24-hydroxylase gene expression induced by 10
−8 M 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3. (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-2P was 5–12 times more potent as a vitamin D antagonist than (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-1P in HL-60 cells, human and mouse bone marrow cultures. These results demonstrate that (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-1P and (23
S,25
S)-DLAM-2P antagonize HL-60 cell differentiation and osteoclast formation by human and mouse osteoclast precursors induced by 1
,25-(OH)
2D
3 through blocking VDR-mediated gene transcription. In contrast, (23
S)-25-deoxy-1
-hydroxyvitamin D
3-26,23-lactone, which only blocks human VDR, these vitamin D antagonists can block VDR in human cells and rodent cells.