Amino acid thyroxine

Iodine is required for the formation of amino acids that act as thyroid hormones. The amino acids thyroxine and triiodothyronine, both derived from tyrosine, a protein amino acid, provide examples. 

Iodine is concentrated in humans by the thyroid gland to form the iodo-amino acid thyroxine, which is essential to normal health and development. Iodine is a rather rare element (crustal abundance 0.00003 weight %, cf. Table 1.1), so the thyroid gland has become very efficient at scavenging iodide ion. As iodine is deficient in the diet in some locations, a small amount of iodide ion is routinely added to commercial table salt ( iodized salt ). 

Sodium and potassium iodides find limited use as expectorants but a much more important use is as additives, at levels around 5—100 fig/g to table salt in many countries as a prophylactic against goitre. This is a condition arising from iodine deficiency with the result that there is insufficient synthesis of the iodine-containing amino acids, thyroxine and 3,3, 5-triiodothyronine, that are essential components of the... 

Some hormones are proteins or polypeptides (oxytocin, TSH, insulin). Others, while neither proteins nor polypeptides, arc derivatives of amino acids (thyroxine, epinephrine). Others (steroids) are produced in Lipidland as... 

The thyroid secretes two types of hormones iodine-containing amino acids (thyroxine and triiodothyronine) and a peptide (calcitonin). Thyroxine and triiodothyronine have very general effects on growth, development, and metabolism. Calcitonin is important in calcium metabolism and is discussed in Chapter 41. This chapter describes the drugs used in the treatment of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism (Figure 38-1). 

Reflect and Apply Suggest a reason why the amino acids thyroxine and hydroxyproline are produced by posttranslational modification of the amino acids tyrosine and proline, respectively. 

The amino acids thyroxine and hydroxyproline occur in very few proteins. The genetic code does not include them, so they are produced by modification of tyrosine and proline, respectively. 

Iodine is an essential element to humans and presents in the human body in minute amounts (15-20mg in adults), of which more than 80% exists in the thyroid gland. Iodine in the human body mainly comes from food intake and inhalation of atmospheric iodine. In the thyroid, iodine is added to the essential amino acid thyroxine residue on thyroglobulin. 

Amino acid-derived hormones include the catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine (qv), and the thyroid hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine (see Thyroid AND ANTITHYROID PREPARATIONS). Catecholamines are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine by a series of enzymatic reactions that include hydroxylations, decarboxylations, and methylations. Thyroid hormones also are derived from tyrosine iodination of the tyrosine residues on a large protein backbone results in the production of active hormone. 

The term chiral recognition refers to a process in which some chiral receptor or reagent interacts selectively with one of the enantiomers of a chiral molecule. Very high levels of chiral recognition are cormnon in biological processes. (—)-Nicotine, for example, is much more toxic than (-F)-nicotine, and (-F)-adrenaline is more active than (—)-adrenaline in constricting blood vessels. (—)-Thyroxine, an amino acid of the thyroid gland that speeds up metabolism, is one of the most widely used of all prescription... 

In addition to the twenty amino acids commonly found in proteins, two others—selenocysteine and pyrrolysine—are found in some organisms, and more than 700 nonprotein amino acids are also found in nature. y-Amino-butyric acid (GABA), for instance, is found in the brain and acts as a neurotransmitter homocysteine is found in blood and is linked to coronary heart disease and thyroxine is found in the thyroid gland, where it acts as a hormone. 

Several amino acids are also the precursors of other compounds, eg, purines, pyrimidines, hormones such as epinephrine and thyroxine, and neurotransmitters. 

The amino acid tyrosine is the starting point in the synthesis of the catecholamines and of the thyroid hormones tetraiodothyronine (thyroxine T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) (Figure 42-2). T3 and T4 are unique in that they require the addition of iodine (as T) for bioactivity. Because dietary iodine is very scarce in many parts of the world, an intricate mechanism for accumulating and retaining T has evolved. 

Derived from the amino acid tyrosine, thyroid hormones are unique because they contain iodine. At this time, its incorporation into thyroid hormones is the only known use for iodine in the body. There are two thyroid hormones, named for the number of iodides added to the tyrosine residues of the thyroglobulin triiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4, thyroxine). Although significantly more T4 is synthesized by the thyroid gland, T3 is the active hormone. At the target tissue, T4 is deiodoninated to form the more potent T3. 

Generalized defects of protein synthesis have not yet been described, presumably because they would be lethal early in development. Disturbances in the synthesis of messenger compounds such as thyroxine or neurotransmitters may occur but they do not result in an aminoaciduria because relatively little amino acid is so disposed. 

In addition to neutral loss scans, mass spectrometers can be used to detect other compounds in a different manner. Acylcamitines are fatty acid esters of carnitine. The masses of acylcamitines differ by the size of the fatty acid attached to it. The tandem mass spectrometer can detect these selectively as well because they all produce a similar product, in this case an ion rather than a molecule. Because it is an ion, it can be detected by the second mass separation device. The ion has a mass of 85 Da and is common to all acylcamitines. Performing a precursor ion scan of 85 Da (essentially a scan of only molecules that produce the 85 ion) reveals a selective analysis of acylcar-nitines, as shown in Fig. 14.2. Additional scans have been added to more selectively detect basic amino acids, free carnitine, short chain acylcamitines and a hormone, thyroxin (T4) which has amino acid components. 

Thyroid Thyroxine (T4) tri-iodothyronine (T3) Amino acid derivatives... 

The chiral distinction capability of cinchonan carbamate CSPs for underivatized amino acids has not been fully elucidated yet, in contrast to the large embodiment of A-acylated and A-arylated amino acid derivatives vide infra). However, it seems that chiral amino acids can be successfully resolved into enantiomers if the amino acid side chain R residue) contains a functionality that represents a strongly interactive binding site with the selector such as an extended aromatic ring system like in thyroxin (T4). 

Tyrosine (Tyr or Y) (4-hydroxyphenylalanine ((5)-2-amino-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propanoic acid)) is a polar, neutral, aromatic amino acid with the formula H00CCH(NH2)CH2C6H50H and is the precursor of thyroxin, dopamine, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), epinephrine (adrenaline), and the pigment melanin. Being the precursor amino acid for the thyroid gland hormone thyroxin, a defect in this may result in hypothyroidism. Tyr is extremely soluble in water, a property that has proven useful in isolating this amino acid from protein hydrolysates. The occurrence of tyrosine- 0-sulfate as a constituent of human urine and fibrinogen has been reported. ... 

Thyroxine one of the iodine-containing amino acids that act as a thyroid hormone. 

The amino acids that are made available as a result of protein degradation in starvation are nsed as precursors of glucose, which is required for the brain. The decline in starvation-induced protein degradation is a result of the decreased requirement for glucose by the brain due to the increase in utilisation of ketone bodies. The qnestion arises, therefore, as to the mechanism by which the protein breakdown in muscle is reduced. Two answers, which are interdependent, have been put forward (i) decreased metabolic activity in tissues, and (ii) a decrease in the plasma level of thyroxine and hence triiodothyronine. 

Thyroxine is actually a simple derivative of the aromatic amino acid tyrosine (see Section 13.1), but is believed to be derived by degradation of a larger protein molecule containing tyrosine residues. One hypothesis for their formation invokes suitably placed tyrosine residues in the protein thyroglobulin being iodinated to di-iodotyrosine. These residues then react together by phenolic oxidative coupling. 

Many steroid hormones are regulated by this type of axis—e.g., thyroxin, cortisol, estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone. In the case of the glucocorticoids, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH or corticoliberin, a peptide consisting of 41 amino acids), which in turn releases corticotropin (ACTFl, 39 AAs) in the pituitary gland. Corticotropin stimulates synthesis and release of the glandular steroid hormone cortisol in the adrenal cortex. 

The thyroid hormone thyroxine (tetraiodo-thyronine, T4) and its active form triiodothyronine (T3) are derived from the amino acid tyrosine. The iodine atoms at positions 3 and 5 of the two phenol rings are characteristic of them. Post-translational synthesis of thyroxine takes place in the thyroid gland from tyrosine residues of the protein thyro-globulin, from which it is proteolytically cleaved before being released, iodothyronines are the only organic molecules in the animal organism that contain iodine. They increase the basal metabolic rate, partly by regulating mitochondrial ATP synthesis, in addition, they promote embryonic development. 

Amino Acid Systems Glutamine binding sites, 46, 414 labeling of the active site of r-aspartate /3-decarboxylase with yS-chloro-r-ala-nine, 46, 427 active site of r-asparaginase reaction with diazo-4-oxonorvaline, 46, 432 labeling of serum prealbumin with N-bro-moacetyl-L-thyroxine, 46, 435 a pyridoxamine phosphate derivative, 46, 441. 

Figure 8.17. Structure of the iodine-containing amino acid-based thyroid hormones—thyroxine and triiodothyronine...

Three hormones, thyroxine (3,5,3, 5 -tetraiodothy-ronine, or T4), triiodothyronine (3,5,3 -triiodothyronine, or T3), and calcitonin (see Chapter 66) are secreted by the thyroid gland. The hormones T4 and Tj are iodine-containing amino acid derivatives and are unique in that they have no discrete target tissue. Every tissue in the body is affected in some way by thyroid hormones, and almost all cells appear to require constant optimal amounts for normal operation. 

Thyroxine binding prealbumin (TBPA) carries about 30% T but no Tj. Its affinity is only of the order of 10 M, but it is much more abundant in semm than is TBG. The amino acid sequence and the structure of this protein are known. Four identical subunits (127 amino acids each) form a prolate ellipsoid. Noncovalent interactions between the subunits form a channel of I nm diameter along the long axis, which has a funnel-shaped opening of 2.5 nm. The T molecule is held in one arm of this channel, binding... 

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