title: Thyroid-Related Protein Expression in the Human Thymus.
abstract: Radioiodine whole body scan (WBS), related to sodium iodide symporter (NIS) function, is widely used to detect recurrence/metastasis in postoperative patients with thyroid cancer. However, the normal thymic uptake of radioiodine has occasionally been observed in young patients. We evaluated the expression of thyroid-related genes and proteins in the human thymus. Thymic tissues were obtained from 22 patients with thyroid cancer patients of all ages. The expression of NIS, thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR), thyroperoxidase (TPO), and thyroglobulin (Tg) was investigated using immunohistochemistry and quantitative RT-PCR. NIS and TSHR were expressed in 18 (81.8%) and 19 samples (86.4%), respectively, whereas TPO was expressed in five samples (22.7%). Three thyroid-related proteins were localized to Hassall's corpuscles and thymocytes. In contrast, Tg was detected in a single patient (4.5%) localized to vascular endothelial cells. The expression of thyroid-related proteins was not increased in young thymic tissues compared to that in old thymic tissues. In conclusion, the expression of NIS and TSHR was detected in the majority of normal thymus samples, whereas that of TPO was detected less frequently, and that of Tg was detected rarely. The increased thymic uptake of radioiodine in young patients is not due to the increased expression of NIS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Tumor Microenvironment Global Core Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi Jeong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4891-9019
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Boramae Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: So Won
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8967-8923
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Tumor Microenvironment Global Core Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Cancer Imaging Center, Seoul National University Cancer Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyewon
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1006-2689
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Juri
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1992-0961
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Keon Wook
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2622-9017
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Do Joon
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3671-6364
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ja June
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8428-6322
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu Eun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2354-3599
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeong Cheon
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Tumor Microenvironment Global Core Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: June-Key
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6866-8571
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chung