Lecture 4: Endocrinology of the Thyroid Gland Flashcards
What are the 2 iodotyrosils?
MIT and DIT
What is MIT?
Monoiodotyrosine
What is DIT?
Diiodotyrosine
Where is the 1st iodide added onto to Tyr?
3’
Where is the 2nd iodide
added onto to Tyr?
5’
What is T3?
MIT + DIT
What is T4?
DIT + DIT
How many iodides does T3 have on the outer ring?
1
How many iodides does T4 have on the outer ring?
2
Which thyroid hormone is the active one in the body?
T3
What are T3 and T4 bound to? Which one is more bound that the other?
Thyroid hormone binding globulin (TBG) (~70% of it)
Higher percentage of T4 is bound (99.97% T4 bound vs. 99.7% T3 bound)
What is reverse T3? When is it created? What is it a sign of?
It has 2 iodides on the outer ring and 1 on the inner ring
Created by improper conversion of T4 to T3 in the periphery
Usually a sign of illness, carb starvation, and in the fetus
Where are the thyroid hormones produced? Describe their structure.
In the follicles of the thyroid gland in the neck made of single layer of follicular cells surrounding the follicular space containing colloid (made by follicular cells)
What are the 3 roles of the follicular cells of the thyroid gland?
- Bring in iodide
- Transport iodide to the follicular space
- Makes enzymes for thyroid hormone production
What are the 3 effects of TSH on the thyroid gland?
- Stimulation of hormone production/secretion
- Increase in size
- Stimulation of iodide uptake
What type of receptor is the TSH receptor on the thyroid gland? How many membrane spanning regions does it have?
G-protein coupled receptor
7 membrane-spanning regions
Where is the TSH receptor located in the thyroid gland?
Basolateral surface of the follicular cells
How does the TSH receptor in the thyroid gland work to increase thyroid hormone production?
Activates adenylyl cyclase which increases cAMP in the cells, which accelerates ALL hormone producing processes
What is the major inhibitor of thyroid hormone production?
Propylthiouracil (PTU)
What is the precursor of thyroid hormones?
Tyr
How is iodide pumped into the follicular cells of the thyroid gland?
I-/Na+ symporter on basolateral membrane through secondary active transport as the Na+/K+ ATPase provides the concentration gradient of sodium
What are the 4 competitive inhibitors of the I-/Na+ symporter of the follicular cells of the thyroid gland? What do these inhibit exactly? How?
- Thyocyanate: SCN-
- Perchlorate: ClO4-
- Perrhenate: ReO4-
- Pertechnetate: TcO4-
Inhibit the UPTAKE of iodine, not the pump itself because they are transported instead (indirect inhibition)
How does iodide leave the follicular cells of the thyroid gland?
Simple diffusion
What is the ratio of iodide inside a thyroid follicular cell to that of serum in humans?
25:1
How do we treat thyroid tumors? What can this damage as collateral?
Radioactive iodide therapy to ablate the tumor
Salivary glands can be damaged also
What happens to the iodide once it has entered the follicular cells of the thyroid gland? How? To what end? What does this require?
It is transported through the apical membrane in the follicular space (on the luminal surface) through which it travels due to the electrochemical gradient (the follicular space has similar ectrochemical characteristics to the exterior of the cell) to be oxidized by thyroperoxidase (TPO), which requires NADPH
How is TPO activated to oxidize iodide once it has entered the follicular cells of the thyroid gland? What inhibits it?
Stimulated/Activated by TSH
Inhibited by PTU
Is the thyroid the only place where iodide can be oxidized?
Yes
How is thyroid storm treated during pregnancy? Why?
With PTU only during the first trimester (because it also causes liver damage) and then methimazole
In what food is thyocyanate found in?
Cassava (from Zaire, central Africa)
What does eating cassava cause in people from Zaire?
They already are not ingesting enough iodide and by eating cassava they cannot pump iodide into the follicular cells of the thyroid gland, so this causes:
- Low iodide
- High amounts of TSH: thyroid gland growth = goiter
What is cretinism due to? Symptoms?
Insufficient amounts of thyroid hormones during development causing short stature and stunted brain development
How are thyroid hormones produced at the laminal surface?
TPO adds iodide to the tyrosine portions of thyroglobulin (TGB) to form MIT and DIT and then TPO fuses them to form T3 or T4
What protein can inhibit the fusion of MIT and DIT?
PTU
What causes the release of thyroglobulin complex from the colloid surrounding the follicular cells of the thyroid gland? How?
TSH
Invagination of follicular membrane into vesicles
What happens to the thyroglubulin complex containing vesicles inside the follicular cells of the thyroid gland?
They fuse with lysosomes to give rise to secondary lysosomes: phagolysosomes where the complex is completely hydrolyzed by proteases into AAs, DIT, MIT, T3/T4
What happens to the non-T3/T4 products in the lysosomes inside the follicular cells of the thyroid gland? Why?
Recycled because there is no tRNA to incorporate them into new proteins
What happens to the iodide in the lysosomes inside the follicular cells of the thyroid gland?
Has to go through the whole oxidation process all over again
What is the predominant form of the thyroid hormone produced in the thyroid gland?
T4: inactive
Which has more affinity for thyroid hormone receptors on target cells: T3 or T4? By how much?
T3
x10
What happens to T4 once it binds to thyroid hormone receptors on target cells?
Converted to T3 by 5’ thyroxine deiodinase
Can T4 be converted to T3 in the plasma?
Yes, a small amount is
What 2 enzymes block the conversion of T4 to T3? How?
- Methimazole
- PTU
Inhibit the deiodinase
What feedback do thyroid hormones have on the hypo and pit? Do both T3 and T4 have these effects?
Hypo: -TRH
Pit: -TSH
YUP
How will an increase in GH affect thyroid hormone production?
Inhibit it because IGF-1 will +SS, which inhibits TSH production by pit
What is newborn hypothyroidism caused by? How is it treated? Symptoms if not treated?
Inability to make thyroid hormones at birth
Treatment: administer thyroid hormones to prevent cretinism and growth defects (downturned mouth and dead eyes) FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES