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The Seaweed Gatherers, Paul Gaugin
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Iodine Research
Resource Network of The Iodine Movement
Iodine and the Body
Thymus
JACKSON
Thymus accumulation of radioactive iodine.
Jackson GL, Graham WP 3rd, Flickinger FW, Kennedy TJ.
Pa Med. 1979 Nov;82(11):37-8.
[citation only]
MURATET
Thymus accumulation of I-131 after therapeutic dose for thyroid carcinoma.
Muratet JP, Giraud P.
Clin Nucl Med. 1996 Sep;21(9):736-7.
[citation only]
SPITZWEG
Expression of thyroid-related genes in human thymus.
Spitzweg C, Joba W, Heufelder AE.
Thyroid. 1999 Feb;9(2):133-41.
[abstract only]
"There are several thyroid antigens including human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS), thyrotropin
receptor (TSH-R), thyroid peroxidase (TPO), and thyroglobulin (Tg) that have been considered to
be thyroid-specific proteins involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases. We
examined the expression of these thyroid-tolerance related genes in normal human thymus, the
lymphoid organ responsible for the induction of central T-cell self. Reverse
transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplifications were performed with 4 pairs of
oligonucleotide primers specific for the hNIS, TSH-R, TPO, and Tg genes, respectively.
Gene-specific transcripts were confirmed by Southern hybridization using digoxigenin-labeled
internal oligonucleotide probes. To monitor cDNA integrity and quantity, all samples were
coamplified with a pair of intron-spanning human beta-actin-specific oligonucleotide primers.
Furthermore, using a highly sensitive immunostaining technique and antibodies specific for these 4
antigens, we examined whether NIS-, TSH-R-, TPO-, and Tg-specific immunoreactivity can be
detected and localized in normal human thymus. RT-PCR and Southern hybridization revealed
expression of each of these 4 thyroid-related genes in normal human thymus. In addition,
immunohistochemical analysis of frozen tissue sections derived from normal human thymus showed
marked immunoreactivity for NIS, TSH-R, and Tg as well as weaker staining for TPO. Control
reactions using isotype matched nonimmune immunoglobulins were consistently negative. Taken
together, our results suggest that NIS-, TSH-R-, TPO-, and Tg-RNA are present and actively
processed to immunoreactive NIS-, TSH-R-, TPO-, and Tg-like protein in human thymus. These
data support the concept that pre-T lymphocytes may be educated to recognize thyroid-related
epitopes expressed in thymus, and, thus, to generate self-tolerance against these thyroid-related
antigens."