Francesca Coscia
Human Technopole, Milan, Italy
The thyroid gland is a natural bioreactor that accumulates dietary iodine to synthesise thyroid hormones from their protein precursor, thyroglobulin. Thyroid hormone yields are essential for development and control of metabolism in vertebrates, and thyroglobulin mutations are linked to a number of human diseases. We determined the first structure of human thyroglobulin at 3.5 Å resolution by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) and unravelled the mechanism of hormone synthesis by TG iodo-tyrosines. The thyroglobulin structure thus provides an essential framework to further understand the regulation of thyroid hormones in
vivo and to study the molecular basis of widespread thyroid disorders.