Vitamin D₃-resistant fibroblasts have immunoassayable 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ receptors

Cultured fibroblasts obtained from patients with tissue resistance to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ (vitamin D₃-dependent rickets, type II) contain normal, low, or undetectable concentrations of this hormone's receptor protein as measured by a ligand-binding assay. Extracts from these cells were evaluated for receptors by immunoassay with a recently developed monoclonal antibody to the chick receptor. The results show that a protein sedimenting at 3.7S and recognizable by the antibody exists in comparable concentrations in cells from both normal and resistant patients, irrespective of the hormone-binding abnormalities of the cells. This implies that deficiencies in hormone binding associated with inherited tissue resistance to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ probably arise from structural variations in the receptor molecule and not from defective receptor synthesis.