title: Structure and function of thyroid hormone plasma membrane transporters.
abstract: Thyroid hormones (TH) cross the plasma membrane with the help of transporter proteins. As charged amino acid derivatives, TH cannot simply diffuse across a lipid bilayer membrane, despite their notorious hydrophobicity. The identification of monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8, SLC16A2) as a specific and very active TH transporter paved the way to the finding that mutations in the MCT8 gene cause a syndrome of psychomotor retardation in humans. The purpose of this review is to introduce the current model of transmembrane transport and highlight the diversity of TH transmembrane transporters. The interactions of TH with plasma transfer proteins, T3 receptors, and deiodinase are summarized. It is shown that proteins may bind TH owing to their hydrophobic character in hydrophobic cavities and/or by specific polar interaction with the phenolic hydroxyl, the aminopropionic acid moiety, and by weak polar interactions with the iodine atoms. These findings are compared with our understanding of how TH transporters interact with substrate. The presumed effects of mutations in MCT8 on protein folding and transport function are explained in light of the available homology model.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schweizer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Experimentelle Endokrinologie, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johannes
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Braun
keywords: Albumin; Deiodinase; Mechanism; Membrane insertion; Mutation; Rocker switch; T3 receptor; Thyroid hormone; Thyroid hormone-binding globulin; Transfer protein transthyretin; Transporter