Thyroid hormones, structure

Therefore, changes in the relative binding affinities of thyroid hormone structures to receptors will ultimately depend upon the specific steric requirements of the binding site and the ability of the hormones to adopt the required conformation. 

Structure—Activity Relationships. In spite of the considerable synthetic and bioassay effort involved in estabhshing the thyromimetic potency of thyroid-hormone analogues, more than 100 compounds have been studied (Table 2). The main stmctural requirements for thyromimetic activity can be summarized as follows (6,12—16). 

Hyperthyroidism may be treated in several ways. One of these is interference with the synthesis of the thyroid hormones, possibly by removal of iodine. Thiourea and cyclic thioureas have this effect and of such cyclic compounds, thiouracil (1030 R = H), its 6-alkyl derivatives (1030 R = Me or Pr) and thiobarbital (1031) are effective thyroid drugs. Today only propylthiouracil (1030 R = Pr) is widely used, probably because it has fewer side effects than the others (71MI21302). The thiouracils are made by the Principal Synthesis from a /3-oxo ester (1032 R = H, Me, Pr, etc.) and thiourea (45JA2197) their fine structures are experimentally based (64AF1004). 

Thyroid hormones. Internally, the thyroid consists of follicles, which are spherical structures with walls formed by a single layer of epithelial cells called follicular cells. The center of each follicle contains a homogenous gel referred to as colloid. Thyroid hormones are stored here as a component of the larger molecule, thyroglobulin. The amount of thyroid hormones stored within the colloid is enough to supply the body for 2 to 3 months. 

The normal form of interaction between receptor and DNA requires the hormone to have broken the native structure of the receptor and the dimer to have been formed. That is to say, the receptor-DNA interaction comes after the hormone-receptor interaction. Nevertheless, situations have been described in vitro in which the receptor is able to be previously associated to the HRE. This situation occurs in vivo for the thyroid hormone receptors, in which case it seems that the hormone-free dimer acts as an expression repressor of genes dependent on these hormones (Evans et al. 1988). The arrival of the hormone activates the dimer in situ and inverts its role as regulator. 

In addition to their well known role in protein structure, amino acids also act as precursors to a number of other important biological molecules. For example, the synthesis of haem (see also Section 5.3.1), which occurs in, among other tissues, the liver begins with glycine and succinyl-CoA. The amino acid tyrosine which maybe produced in the liver from metabolism of phenylalanine is the precursor of thyroid hormones, melanin, adrenaline (epinephrine), noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and dopamine. The biosynthesis of some of these signalling molecules is described in Section 4.4. 

Within a programme aimed at the development of thyroid hormone analogues as potentially useful plasma cholesterol-lowering agents, the pyrida-zinone derivative SK F L-94901 (98) has been prepared and investigated in the U.K. [419-422]. Whereas naturally occurring thyroid hormones cannot be employed for this purpose because of their undesirable effect on heart rate, (98) has been found to represent a potent thyromimetic which retains hepatic activity but lacks cardiac activity. Structural modifications and QSAR studies have been carried out [422]. 

Thyroid hormone receptor antagonists, IC50 20 PM (upper), 0.75 fiM (lower) from structure-based virtual screening... 

Greenidge, P.A., Carlsson, B., Biadh, L.G., and Gillner, M. Pharmacophores incorporating numerous excluded volumes defined by x-ray crystallographic structure in three-dimensional database searching application to the thyroid hormone receptor./. Med. Chem. 1998, 41, 2503-2512. 

As can be observed, the group of thyroid hormone receptors (1 A) is represented by molecular scaffolds of low structural complexity, with at most a single ring in the core ring system. In this respect, the scaffold simplicity of the molecules annotated to this group contrasts with the wide diversity of scaffolds found in the other two nuclear receptor groups. For example. 

Levothyroxine is used to treat hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland). Thyroid hormone can be made from beef and pork thyroid, but this lacks standardization and it is difficult to control dosage. The synthetic drug is more desirable. Levothyroxine is one of two important thyroid hormones. It is converted into the second important hormone, liothyronine, in the body. The key step in the synthesis of structures such as levothyroxine is the substitution of an iodonium salt by an iodinated phenol. Siql-like reactions on an aromatic ring are not common, but an iodonium salt provides a good leaving group. 

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

The structure-activity relationships of thyroid hormones and related structural analogs have been studied using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including the Hansch correlation. The structural requirements for receptor binding, and therefore hormone activity, are ... 

E. N. Cheung (1995). Thyroid hormone action determination of hormone-receptor interaction using structural analogs and molecular modeling. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 6 31-34. 

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