{"entity":{"id":"vdr","kind":"target","name":"VDR","aka":["vitamin D receptor","Vitamin D3 receptor","NR1I1","PPP1R163"],"tldr":"VDR (Vitamin D3 receptor) is a protein that switches other genes on and off. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response.","summary":"Nuclear receptor for calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D3 which mediates the action of this vitamin on cells. Enters the nucleus upon vitamin D3 binding where it forms heterodimers with the retinoid X receptor/RXR. The VDR-RXR heterodimers bind to specific response elements on DNA and activate the transcription of vitamin D3-responsive target genes.\n\nOpen Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.51 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 1.00, animal model 0.55, genetic association 0.46, clinical 0.67).","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:12679","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:12679"},{"label":"UniProt P11473","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P11473/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 7421","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7421"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000111424","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000111424"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["open-targets"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.67. Evidence tier \"clinical-evidence\" is the strongest of those signals.","Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts (CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC, UniProt)","editedOn":"2026-09-23"},"symbol":"VDR","role":["drug-target"],"evidenceTier":"clinical-evidence","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:12679","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:12679","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt P11473","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P11473/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000111424","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000111424/associations","note":"association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.51;  (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"distribution":"not-established","specificityNote":"Specificity not established: no corpus medicine is aimed at it and the catalogues give it only the role drug-target; HPA finds the RNA tissue enriched, which says where the protein sits but not whether the tumour differs from normal tissue. HPA VDR: RNA tissue enriched (parathyroid gland 222 nTPM); blood lineage group enriched (dendritic cells 5 nTPM, granulocytes 7 nTPM, monocytes 7 nTPM); no normal tissue stained high. Distribution: no corpus cancer carries a prevalence row, threshold or catalogue link for it; Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (No rule of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts fired.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas VDR tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000111424-VDR/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000111424 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000111424/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:12679","ensembl":"ENSG00000111424","uniprot":"P11473","entrez":"7421","firstDescribed":1988,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Baker A.R. et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, 1988, \"Cloning and expression of full-length cDNA encoding human vitamin D receptor\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2835767/","biology":"Nuclear receptor for calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D3 which mediates the action of this vitamin on cells. Enters the nucleus upon vitamin D3 binding where it forms heterodimers with the retinoid X receptor/RXR. The VDR-RXR heterodimers bind to specific response elements on DNA and activate the transcription of vitamin D3-responsive target genes. Plays a central role in calcium homeostasis. Also functions as a receptor for the secondary bile acid lithocholic acid (LCA) and its metabolites. Location: Nucleus; Cytoplasm (UniProt). Locus 12q13.11 (HGNC).","whereFound":[],"targetClass":"transcription","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/vdr/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}]}}