Balázs Gereben

Cellular and Molecular Basis of Deiodinase-Regulated Thyroid Hormone Signaling

The iodothyronine deiodinases initiate or terminate thyroid hormone action and therefore are critical for the biological effects mediated by thyroid hormone. Over the years, research has focused on their role in preserving serum levels of the biologically active molecule T(3) during iodine deficiency. More recently, a fascinating new role of these enzymes has been unveiled. The activating deiodinase (D2) and the inactivating deiodinase (D3) can locally increase or decrease thyroid hormone signaling in a tissue- and temporal-specific fashion, independent of changes in thyroid hormone serum concentrations. This mechanism is particularly relevant because deiodinase expression can be modulated by a wide variety of endogenous signaling molecules such as sonic hedgehog, nuclear factor-kappaB, growth factors, bile acids, hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha, as well as a growing number of xenobiotic substances. In light of these findings, it seems clear that deiodinases play a much broader role than once thought, with great ramifications for the control of thyroid hormone signaling during vertebrate development and metamorphosis, as well as injury response, tissue repair, hypothalamic function, and energy homeostasis in adults.

Activation and inactivation of thyroid hormone by deiodinases: Local action with general consequences

Abstract.The thyroid hormone plays a fundamental role in the development, growth, and metabolic homeostasis in all vertebrates by affecting the expression of different sets of genes. A group of thioredoxin fold-containing selenoproteins known as deiodinases control thyroid hormone action by activating or inactivating the precursor molecule thyroxine that is secreted by the thyroid gland. These pathways ensure regulation of the availability of the biologically active molecule T3, which occurs in a time-and tissue-specific fashion. In addition, because cells and plasma are in equilibrium and deiodination affects central thyroid hormone regulation, these local deiodinase-mediated events can also affect systemic thyroid hormone economy, such as in the case of non-thyroidal illness. Heightened interest in the field has been generated following the discovery that the deiodinases can be a component in both the Sonic hedgehog signaling pathway and the TGR-5 signaling cascade, a G-protein-coupled receptor for bile acids. These new mechanisms involved in deiodinase regulation indicate that local thyroid hormone activation and inactivation play a much broader role than previously thought.

Paracrine signaling by glial cell–derived triiodothyronine activates neuronal gene expression in the rodent brain and human cells

Hypothyroidism in humans is characterized by severe neurological consequences that are often irreversible, highlighting the critical role of thyroid hormone (TH) in the brain. Despite this, not much is known about the signaling pathways that control TH action in the brain. What is known is that the prohormone thyroxine (T4) is converted to the active hormone triiodothyronine (T3) by type 2 deiodinase (D2) and that this occurs in astrocytes, while TH receptors and type 3 deiodinase (D3), which inactivates T3, are found in adjacent neurons. Here, we modeled TH action in the brain using an in vitro coculture system of D2-expressing H4 human glioma cells and D3-expressing SK-N-AS human neuroblastoma cells. We found that glial cell D2 activity resulted in increased T3 production, which acted in a paracrine fashion to induce T3-responsive genes, including ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 2 (ENPP2), in the cocultured neurons. D3 activity in the neurons modulated these effects. Furthermore, this paracrine pathway was regulated by signals such as hypoxia, hedgehog signaling, and LPS-induced inflammation, as evidenced both in the in vitro coculture system and in in vivo rat models of brain ischemia and mouse models of inflammation. This study therefore presents what we believe to be the first direct evidence for a paracrine loop linking glial D2 activity to TH receptors in neurons, thereby identifying deiodinases as potential control points for the regulation of TH signaling in the brain during health and disease.

American Thyroid Association Guide to investigating thyroid hormone economy and action in rodent and cell models.

BACKGROUND An in-depth understanding of the fundamental principles that regulate thyroid hormone homeostasis is critical for the development of new diagnostic and treatment approaches for patients with thyroid disease. SUMMARY Important clinical practices in use today for the treatment of patients with hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, or thyroid cancer are the result of laboratory discoveries made by scientists investigating the most basic aspects of thyroid structure and molecular biology. In this document, a panel of experts commissioned by the American Thyroid Association makes a series of recommendations related to the study of thyroid hormone economy and action. These recommendations are intended to promote standardization of study design, which should in turn increase the comparability and reproducibility of experimental findings. CONCLUSIONS It is expected that adherence to these recommendations by investigators in the field will facilitate progress towards a better understanding of the thyroid gland and thyroid hormone dependent processes.

Cloning and expression of the chicken type 2 iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase.

The type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase (D2) is critical for the intracellular production of 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine from thyroxine. The D2 mRNA of higher vertebrates is over 6 kilobases (kb), and no complete cDNA clones have been reported. Using 5′- and 3′-rapid amplification of cDNA ends and two cDNA libraries, we have cloned the 6094-base pair full-length chicken D2 cDNA. The deduced protein is ∼31 kDa and contains two in-frame UGA codons presumably encoding selenocysteine. One of these is in the highly conserved active catalytic center; the other is near the carboxyl terminus. Unusual features of the cDNA include a selenocysteine insertion sequence element ∼4.8 kb 3′ to the UGA codon in the active center and three short open reading frames in the 5′-untranslated region. The K m of D2 is ∼1.0 nm for thyroxine, and the reaction is insensitive to inhibition by 6-n-propylthiouracil. Chicken D2 is expressed as a single transcript of ∼6 kb in different brain regions and in the thyroid and lung. Hypothyroidism increases D2 mRNA in the telencephalon. Unlike in mammals, D2 mRNA and activity are expressed in the liver of the chicken, suggesting a role for D2 in the generation of plasma 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine in this species.

Ubiquitination-induced conformational change within the deiodinase dimer is a switch regulating enzyme activity.

ABSTRACT Ubiquitination is a critical posttranslational regulator of protein stability and/or subcellular localization. Here we show that ubiquitination can also regulate proteins by transiently inactivating enzymatic function through conformational change in a dimeric enzyme, which can be reversed upon deubiquitination. Our model system is the thyroid hormone-activating type 2 deiodinase (D2), an endoplasmic reticulum-resident type 1 integral membrane enzyme. D2 exists as a homodimer maintained by interacting surfaces at its transmembrane and globular cytosolic domains. The D2 dimer associates with the Hedgehog-inducible ubiquitin ligase WSB-1, the ubiquitin conjugase UBC-7, and VDU-1, a D2-specific deubiquitinase. Upon binding of T4, its natural substrate, D2 is ubiquitinated, which inactivates the enzyme by interfering with D2s globular interacting surfaces that are critical for dimerization and catalytic activity. This state of transient inactivity and change in dimer conformation persists until deubiquitination. The continuous association of D2 with this regulatory protein complex supports rapid cycles of deiodination, conjugation to ubiquitin, and enzyme reactivation by deubiquitination, allowing tight control of thyroid hormone action.

Transcriptional regulation of iodothyronine deiodinases during embryonic development

A single dose of chicken growth hormone (cGH) or dexamethasone acutely increases circulating T(3) levels in 18-day-old chicken embryos through a reduction of hepatic type III iodothyronine deiodinase (D3). The data in the present study suggest that this decrease in D3 is induced by a direct downregulation of hepatic D3 gene transcription. The lack of effect of cGH or dexamethasone on brain and kidney D3 activity, furthermore suggests that both hormones affect peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism in a tissue specific manner. Dexamethasone administration also results in an increase in brain type II iodothyronine deiodinase (D2) activity and mRNA levels that is also regulated at a transcriptional level. In contrast, however, cGH has no effect on brain D2 activity, thereby suggesting that either GH cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier in chicken or that cGH and dexamethasone regulate thyroid hormone deiodination by different mechanisms. In addition, the very short half-life of D2 and D3 (t(1/2)<1 h) in comparison with the longer half life of type I iodothyronine deiodinase (D1, t(1/2)>8 h), allows for D2 and D3 to play a more prominent role in the acute regulation of peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism than D1.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase TEB4 mediates degradation of type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase

ABSTRACT The endoplasmic reticulum resident thyroid hormone-activating type 2 deiodinase (D2) is inactivated by ubiquitination via the hedgehog-inducible WSB-1. Ubiquitinated D2 can then be subsequently taken up by the proteasomal system or be reactivated by USP-33/20-mediated deubiquitination. Given that heterologously expressed D2 accumulates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking the E3 ligase Doa10, we tested whether the human Doa10 ortholog, TEB4, plays a role in D2 ubiquitination and degradation. In a setting of transient coexpression in HEK-293 cells, TEB4 and D2 could be coimmunoprecipitated, and additional TEB4 expression decreased D2 activity by ∼50% (P < 0.05). A highly efficient TEB4 knockdown (>90% reduction in mRNA and protein levels) decreased D2 ubiquitination and increased D2 activity and protein levels by about fourfold. The other activating deiodinase, D1, or a truncated D2 molecule (Δ18-D2) that lacks a critical instability domain was not affected by TEB4 knockdown. Furthermore, TEB4 knockdown prolonged D2 activity half-life at least fourfold, even under conditions known to promote D2 ubiquitination. Neither exposure to 1 μM of the proteasomal inhibitor MG132 for 24 h nor RNA interference WSB-1 knockdown resulted in additive effects on D2 expression when combined with TEB4 knockdown. Similar results were obtained with MSTO-211 cells, which endogenously express D2, after TEB4 knockdown using a lentivirus-based transduction strategy. While TEB4 expression predominates in the hematopoietic lineage, both WSB-1 and TEB4 are coexpressed with D2 in a number of tissues and cell types, except the thyroid and brown adipose tissue, where TEB4 expression is minimal. We conclude that TEB4 interacts with and mediates loss of D2 activity, indicating that D2 ubiquitination and degradation can be tissue specific, depending on WSB-1 and TEB4 expression levels.

KISS1R Intracellular Trafficking and Degradation: Effect of the Arg386Pro Disease-Associated Mutation

The goal of this study was to investigate how the Arg386Pro mutation prolongs KiSS-1 receptor (KISS1R) responsiveness to kisspeptin, contributing to human central precocious puberty. Confocal imaging showed colocalization of wild-type (WT) KISS1R with a membrane marker, which persisted for up to 5 h of stimulation. Conversely, no colocalization with a lysosome marker was detected. Also, overnight treatment with a lysosome inhibitor did not affect WT KISS1R protein, whereas overnight treatment with a proteasome inhibitor increased protein levels by 24-fold. WT and Arg386Pro KISS1R showed time-dependent internalization upon stimulation. However, both receptors were recycled back to the membrane. The Arg386Pro mutation did not affect the relative distribution of KISS1R in membrane and internalized fractions when compared to WT KISS1R for up to 120 min of stimulation, demonstrating that this mutation does not affect KISS1R trafficking rate. Nonetheless, total Arg386Pro KISS1R was substantially increased compared with WT after 120 min of kisspeptin stimulation. This net increase was eliminated by blockade of detection of recycled receptors, demonstrating that recycled receptors account for the increased responsiveness of this mutant to kisspeptin. We therefore conclude the following: 1) WT KISS1R is degraded by proteasomes rather than lysosomes; 2) WT and Arg386Pro KISS1R are internalized upon stimulation, but most of the internalized receptors are recycled back to the membrane rather than degraded; 3) the Arg386Pro mutation does not affect the rate of KISS1R trafficking--instead, it prolongs responsiveness to kisspeptin by decreasing KISS1R degradation, resulting in the net increase on mutant receptor recycled back to the plasma membrane.

Neuronal Hypoxia Induces Hsp40-Mediated Nuclear Import of Type 3 Deiodinase As an Adaptive Mechanism to Reduce Cellular Metabolism

In neurons, the type 3 deiodinase (D3) inactivates thyroid hormone and reduces oxygen consumption, thus creating a state of cell-specific hypothyroidism. Here we show that hypoxia leads to nuclear import of D3 in neurons, without which thyroid hormone signaling and metabolism cannot be reduced. After unilateral hypoxia in the rat brain, D3 protein level is increased predominantly in the nucleus of the neurons in the pyramidal and granular ipsilateral layers, as well as in the hilus of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation. In hippocampal neurons in culture as well as in a human neuroblastoma cell line (SK-N-AS), a 24 h hypoxia period redirects active D3 from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus via the cochaperone Hsp40 pathway. Preventing nuclear D3 import by Hsp40 knockdown resulted an almost doubling in the thyroid hormone-dependent glycolytic rate and quadrupling the transcription of thyroid hormone target gene ENPP2. In contrast, Hsp40 overexpression increased nuclear import of D3 and minimized thyroid hormone effects in cell metabolism. In conclusion, ischemia/hypoxia induces an Hsp40-mediated translocation of D3 to the nucleus, facilitating thyroid hormone inactivation proximal to the thyroid hormone receptors. This adaptation decreases thyroid hormone signaling and may function to reduce ischemia-induced hypoxic brain damage.