Biomimetic Studies on Anti-Thyroid Drugs and Thyroid Hormone Synthesis

摘要

Thyroxine (T4) is the main secretory product of the thyroid gland, and the deiodination of this prohormone to the biologically active hormone, 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), is the first step in thyroid hormone action. It is well known that type I iodothyronine deiodinase (ID-1), a selenocysteine-containing enzyme, is responsible for most of this conversion. The activation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor by autoantibodies leads to an overproduction of thyroid hormones, which can be controlled by specific inhibitors such as 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (1, PTU) and methimazole (3, MMI) that either block the thyroid hormone biosynthesis or reduce the conversion of T4 to T3.