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The Na⁺/I^– cotransporter: a thyroid autoantigen?

Department of Medicine, University of Sheffield, Clinical Sciences Centre, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, UK

Autoimmune endocrinopathies are the archetypal examples of organ-specific autoimmune disease and depend on the recognition of unique proteins within each gland by the cells of the immune system. The majority of these autoantigens now turn out to be enzymes (1); hormones or related structures, such as insulin and thyroglobulin, and hormone receptors, such as the TSH receptor, may also be targets. However, the autoimmune process is extremely heterogeneous in these disorders. Multiple proteins become autoantigens, and a wide range of peptide sequences, termed epitopes, within each is recognized by the autoreactive T cells. This heterogeneity is reflected by the polyclonal nature of T and B cell populations that infiltrate the target gland, best characterized in autoimmune thyroid disease (2, 3).

Such diversity is at least in part due to the process of determinant spreading (4). Immunisation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. De la Vieja, O. Dohan, O. Levy, and N. Carrasco Molecular Analysis of the Sodium/Iodide Symporter: Impact on Thyroid and Extrathyroid Pathophysiology Physiol Rev, July 1, 2000; 80(3): 1083 - 1105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]