| 1. |
- Andersson, Louise, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Role of EphA4 receptor signaling in thyroid development: regulation of folliculogenesis and propagation of the C-cell lineage.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Endocrinology. - : The Endocrine Society. - 1945-7170 .- 0013-7227. ; 152:3, s. 1154-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transcriptome analysis revealed that the tyrosine kinase receptor EphA4 is enriched in the thyroid bud in mouse embryos. We used heterozygous EphA4-EGFP knock-in mice in which enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) replaced the intracellular receptor domain (EphA4(+/EGFP)) to localize EphA4 protein in thyroid primordial tissues. This showed that thyroid progenitors originating in the pharyngeal floor express EphA4 at all embryonic stages and when follicles are formed in late development. Also, the ultimobranchial bodies developed from the pharyngeal pouch endoderm express EphA4, but the ultimobranchial epithelium loses the EGFP signal before it merges with the median thyroid primordium. Embryonic C cells invading the thyroid are exclusively EphA4-negative. EphA4 expression continues in the adult thyroid. EphA4 knock-out mice and EphA4-EGFP homozygous mutants are euthyroid and have a normal thyroid anatomy but display subtle histological alterations regarding number, size, and shape of follicles. Of particular interest, the pattern of follicular abnormality differs between EphA4(-/-) and EphA4(EGFP/EGFP) thyroids. In addition, the number of C cells is reduced by >50% exclusively in animals lacking EphA4 forward signaling (EphA4(EGFP/EGFP)). Heterozygous EphA4 mutants have no apparent thyroid phenotype. We conclude that EphA4 is a novel regulator of thyroid morphogenesis that impacts on postnatal development of the two endocrine cell lineages of the differentiating gland. In this process both EphA4 forward signaling (in the follicular epithelium) and reverse signaling mediated by its cognate ligand(s) (A- and/or B-ephrins expressed in follicular cells and C cells, respectively) are probably functionally important.
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| 2. |
- Fagman, Henrik, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Morphogenesis of the thyroid gland.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Molecular and cellular endocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-8057 .- 0303-7207. ; 323:1, s. 35-54
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Congenital hypothyroidism is mainly due to structural defects of the thyroid gland, collectively known as thyroid dysgenesis. The two most prevalent forms of this condition are abnormal localization of differentiated thyroid tissue (thyroid ectopia) and total absence of the gland (athyreosis). The clinical picture of thyroid dysgenesis suggests that impaired specification, proliferation and survival of thyroid precursor cells and loss of concerted movement of these cells in a distinct spatiotemporal pattern are major causes of malformation. In normal development the thyroid primordium is first distinguished as a thickening of the anterior foregut endoderm at the base of the prospective tongue. Subsequently, this group of progenitors detaches from the endoderm, moves caudally and ultimately differentiates into hormone-producing units, the thyroid follicles, at a distant location from the site of specification. In higher vertebrates later stages of thyroid morphogenesis are characterized by shape remodeling into a bilobed organ and the integration of a second type of progenitors derived from the caudal-most pharyngeal pouches that will differentiate into C-cells. The present knowledge of thyroid developmental dynamics has emerged from embryonic studies mainly in chicken, mouse and more recently also in zebrafish. This review will highlight the key morphogenetic steps of thyroid organogenesis and pinpoint which crucial regulatory mechanisms are yet to be uncovered. Considering the co-incidence of thyroid dysgenesis and congenital heart malformations the possible interactions between thyroid and cardiovascular development will also be discussed.
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| 3. |
- Fagman, Henrik, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Morphogenetics of early thyroid development.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of molecular endocrinology. - 1479-6813.
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The thyroid develops from the foregut endoderm. Yet uncharacterized inductive signals specify endoderm progenitors to a thyroid cell fate that assemble in the pharyngeal floor from which the primordium buds and migrates to the final position of the gland. The morphogenetic process is regulated by both cell-autonomous (activated by e.g. Nkx2-1, Foxe1, Pax8 and Hhex) and mesoderm-derived (mediated by e.g. Tbx1 and Fgf) mechanisms acting in concert to promote growth and survival of progenitor cells. The developmental role of thyroid-stimulating hormone is limited to thyroid differentiation set to work after the gross anatomy of the gland is already sculptured. This review summarizes recent advances on the molecular genetics of thyroid morphogenesis put into context of endoderm developmental traits and highlights established and potentially novel mechanisms of thyroid dysgenesis of relevance to congenital hypothyroidism in man.
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| 4. |
- Fagman, Henrik, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Morphogenetics of early thyroid development.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of molecular endocrinology. - 1479-6813. ; 46:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The thyroid develops from the foregut endoderm. Yet uncharacterized inductive signals specify endoderm progenitors to a thyroid cell fate that assembles in the pharyngeal floor from which the primordium buds and migrates to the final position of the gland. The morphogenetic process is regulated by both cell-autonomous (e.g. activated by NKX2-1, FOXE1, PAX8, and HHEX) and mesoderm-derived (e.g. mediated by TBX1 and fibroblast growth factors) mechanisms acting in concert to promote growth and survival of progenitor cells. The developmental role of TSH is limited to thyroid differentiation set to work after the gross anatomy of the gland is already sculptured. This review summarizes recent advances on the molecular genetics of thyroid morphogenesis put into context of endoderm developmental traits and highlights established and novel mechanisms of thyroid dysgenesis of potential relevance to congenital hypothyroidism in man.
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| 5. |
- Frezzetti, D, et al.
(författare)
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The microRNA-Processing Enzyme Dicer Is Essential for Thyroid Function
- 2011
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - 1932-6203. ; 6:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract: Dicer is a type III ribonuclease required for the biogenesis of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. To explore the functional role of miRNAs in thyroid gland function, we generated a thyrocyte-specific Dicer conditional knockout mouse. Here we show that development and early differentiation of the thyroid gland are not affected by the absence of Dicer, while severe hypothyroidism gradually develops after birth, leading to reduced body weight and shortened life span. Histological and molecular characterization of knockout mice reveals a dramatic loss of the thyroid gland follicular architecture associated with functional aberrations and down-regulation of several differentiation markers. The data presented in this study show for the first time that an intact miRNAs processing machinery is essential for thyroid physiology, suggesting that deregulation of specific miRNAs could be also involved in human thyroid dysfunctions.
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| 6. |
- Nilsson, Mikael, 1958, et al.
(författare)
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Mechanisms of thyroid development and dysgenesis: an analysis based on developmental stages and concurrent embryonic anatomy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Current Topics in Developmental Biology. Volum 106. Endocrine Gland Development and Disease. - Burlington : Elsevier. - 9780124160217 ; , s. 123-170
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thyroid dysgenesis is the most common cause of congenital hypothyroidism that affects 1 in 3000 newborns. Although a number of pathogenetic mutations in thyroid developmental genes have been identified, the molecular mechanism of disease is unknown in most cases. This chapter summarizes the current knowledge of normal thy- roid development and puts the different developmental stages in perspective, from the time of foregut endoderm patterning to the final shaping of pharyngeal anatomy, for understanding how specific malformations may arise. At the cellular level, we will also discuss fate determination of follicular and C-cell progenitors and their subsequent embryonic growth, migration, and differentiation as the different thyroid primordia evo- lve and merge to establish the final size and shape of the gland.
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| 7. |
- Porreca, Immocalata, et al.
(författare)
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Zebrafish bcl2l is a survival factor in thyroid development
- 2012
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Ingår i: Developmental Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-1606. ; 366:2, s. 142-152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regulated cell death, defined in morphological terms as apoptosis, is crucial for organ morphogenesis. While differentiation of the thyroid gland has been extensively studied, nothing is yet known about the survival mechanisms involved in the development of this endocrine gland. Using the zebrafish model system, we aim to understand whether genes belonging to the Bcl-2 family that control apoptosis are implicated in regulation of cell survival during thyroid development. Evidence of strong Bcl-2 gene expression in mouse thyroid precursors prompted us to investigate the functions played by its zebrafish homologs during thyroid development. We show that the bcl2-like (bcl2l) gene is expressed in the zebrafish thyroid primordium. Morpholino-mediated knockdown and mutant analyses revealed that bcl2l is crucial for thyroid cell survival and that this function is tightly modulated by the transcription factors pax2a, nk2.1a and hhex. Also, the bcl2l gene appears to control a caspase-3-dependent apoptotic mechanism during thyroid development. Thyroid precursor cells require an actively maintained survival mechanism to properly proceed through development. The bcl2l gene operates in the inhibition of cell death under direct regulation of a thyroid specific set of transcription factors. This is the first demonstration of an active mechanism to ensure survival of the thyroid primordium during morphogenesis. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 8. |
- Westerlund, Jessica, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Misguided migration of C cell precursors to extra-thyroidal locations related to defective pharyngeal pouch development in Shh deficient mice
- 2013
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Ingår i: Cell & Developmental Biology. - 2168-9296. ; 2:4, s. 129-138
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A possible role of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in recruitment of C cell precursors to the ultimobranchial body (UB) and embryonic thyroid was investigated in Shh-/- mice. Nkx2.1 and Foxa2 co-expression distinguished UB originating in the fourth pharyngeal pouch from other derivatives of pharyngeal endoderm. In mutants UB formed a single structure that failed to bud and instead of fusing with the midline thyroid primordium adhered to the thymic rudiments. Mature C cells appeared in the UB remnant and ectopically in the thymic parenchyma, foregut endoderm and trachea. Thyroid did not contain C cells except minute numbers close to the tracheal interface. Tracing progeny in Shh-CRE/Rosa26R mice showed the vast majority of both UB and thyroid progenitors derived from Shh negative endoderm, but Shh expressing cells appeared in both thyroid primordia before fusion of the two. The findings indicate that Shh determines the endoderm territory for C cell differentiation and guides the migration of C cell precursors into the thyroid, presumably by regulating the separation of glandular domains in the pharyngeal pouch endoderm. A cell-autonomous role of Shh in thyroid morphogenesis is suggested.
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