# VDR

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/vdr/  
OnCo record `vdr` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

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.

Open 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).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: vitamin D receptor; Vitamin D3 receptor; NR1I1; PPP1R163
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: VDR
- Class: transcription
- 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).

## 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.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:12679: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:12679
- UniProt P11473: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P11473/entry
- NCBI Gene 7421: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7421
- Ensembl ENSG00000111424: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000111424

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/vdr.json