Introduction to Thyroid Hormone Receptors
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Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) play a major role in animal physiology. TRs are important and very interesting regulators of diverse aspects, including brain development, hearing, bone growth, morphogenesis, metabolism, intestine, and heart rate in vertebrates (Fig. 1 ). Aberrant functions of TRs induce tremendous defects in these pathways. For example, the human disease of Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (RTH) (
see
Chapter 8 by Yoh and Privalsky) is a genetically autosomal dominant inherited syndrome that is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the TRβ. The role of the ligand of TRs, the thyroid hormone, is to modulate the activity and functionality of TRs.
Fig. 1.
The roles of TRs in the broad spectrum of animal physiology. The TR is a major regulator of vertebrate development involved in a great variety of different processes. Animal model systems including TR gene knock-out in mice and analyses of mutant TRs revealed important roles of TRs in the indicated vertebrate physiology. Mutations in the genes for TR lead to mutant receptors that induce diseases such as the RTH syndrome or functions as an oncogene, i.e., the v-erbA oncogene.
