title: Control of thyroid cell proliferation and goitrogenesis.
abstract: Human thyroid cells proliferate during development and in adults in response to physiologic and pathologic stimuli. Under normal conditions, they turn over about once every 8 years. The main physiologic regulators are thyrotropin and iodide and, in disease, thyroid-stimulating and thyroid-blocking antibodies. Growth factors modulate proliferation in vitro, but their role in vivo is still unknown. Mitogenic effects are mediated via three major pathways: the cyclic AMP, protein tyrosine kinase, and the Ca(2+) phosphatidylinositol cascades. In this review, the role of these cascades in hyperthyroidism, congenital thyroid defects, and autonomous adenoma is analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, Faculty of Medicine, Erasmus Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dumont
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maenhaut
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lamy