S11 Thyroid Gland Flashcards
Where is the thyroid gland?
- against and around front of larynx and trachea
- it is below the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple)
- isthmus extends from the 2nd to 3rd rings of the trachea
What is the structure of the thyroid gland?
- 2 lobes joined by isthmus
* “bow tie” shape and location
How does the thyroid develop in the embryo?
- At 3-4 weeks gestation, the thyroid gland appears as an epithelial proliferation in the floor of the pharynx at the base of the tongue
- Descends as diverticulitis through thyroglossal duct and migrates in front of hyoid bone
- During migration, remains connected to the tongue by the thyroglossal duct, which then degenerates
- Continues to final position once detached over 2 weeks
What does thyroid tissue look like under a microscope?
- follicular cells arranges in spheres called thyroid follicles
- the follicles are filled with colloid
What is colloid?
A deposit of thyroglobulin
Colloid is extracellular even though it’s inside the follicle
What do the thyroid follicular cells produce?
Thyroid hormone (uses thyroglobulin protein to help synthesis)
What do the thyroid parafollicular cells produce?
Calcitonin
What are thyroid hormones made up from?
2 tyrosines linked with iodine at 3/4 positions on the aromatic ring (can have 2 iodines)
Where do the tyrosine residues come from for making thyroid hormone?
Thyroglobulin protein (contains 134 tyrosines, but only a few are used to produce thyroid hormone
How do you make T3 (triiodiothyronine) hormone?
And T4 (tetraidodothyronine/thyroxine) hormone?
Monoiodotyrosine (MIT) + Diiodotyrosine (DIT)
DIT + DIT
What is thyroid peroxidase?
A membrane bound enzyme that regulates 3 separate reactions involving iodide
- Oxidation of iodide to iodine (needs hydrogen peroxide)
- Addition of iodine to tyrosine acceptor residues on protein thyroglobulin
- Coupling to MIT/DIT to generate thyroid hormones in thyroglobulin protein
Where is dietary iodine reduced to iodine?
Before absorption in the small intestine
What are the only molecules in the body that contain iodine?
Thyroid hormones and precursors
How is iodide taken up from the blood into thyroid glands?
By thyroid epithelial cells that have sodium iodide symporter or ‘iodine trap’
What are common sources of iodine?
- dairy products
- grains
- meat
- veg
- eggs
- iodised salt
What are the steps in thyroid hormone synthesis?
- Iodine enter thyroid follicle cells via ‘iodine trap’
- Iodine then moves into colloid where iodination occurs
- Coupling of MIT and DIT occurs
- The coupled MIT and DIT moves by pinocytosis into thyroid follicle cells attached to thyroglobulin
- Lysosome engulfs thyroglobulin forming a phagolysosome
- Enzymes in the lysosome break down the thyroglobulin, releasing the T3 and T4 hormones into the plasma
- Any MIT and DIT that didn’t couple is deiodinased and the iodine is recycled
Which hormone, T3 or T4 is mostly secreted? Which is it then converted into and where?
T4, however T4 is the less biologically active form
So most T4 is converted to T3 in the liver and kidneys
How are T3 and T4 transported in the blood? Why do they need to unbind?
Bound to protein thyroxine-binding globulin
To become biologically active