Receptors of the Thyroid: The Thyrotropin Receptor is Only the First Violinist of a Symphony Orchestra

The primary role of the thyroid is to produce thyroid hormones; the primary regulator of the thyroid, both its function and growth, is the pituitary glycoprotein hormone, thyrotropin (TSH). Studies of the mechanism by which thyrotropin regulates thyroid cells have been a dominant part of thyroid research for the past several decades because autoantibodies to the TSH receptor have been implicated in the hyperfunction and goiter of autoimmune Graves’ disease. Understanding why the TSH receptor, but not receptors for other glycoprotein hormones, is an autoantigen is a major medical concern. Equally of concern has been the mechanism by which the TSH receptor achieves its The present report will try to show how TSH and its functional response and the relationship of TSH and its receptor to thyroid growth.