Abstract
Alterations in maternal thyroid physiology may have deleterious consequences on the development of the fetal brain, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, hampering the development of appropriate therapeutic strategies. The present review sums up the contribution of genetically modified mouse models to this field. In particular, knocking out genes involved in thyroid hormone (TH) deiodination, transport, and storage has significantly improved the picture that we have of the economy of TH in the fetal brain and the underlying genetic program. These data pave the way for future studies to bridge the gap in knowledge between thyroid physiology and brain development.
Highlights
The major role of thyroid hormone (TH) in brain development has been recognized for a long time, but, in spite of considerable progress in the understanding of TH mode of action, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive
Thyroid hormone has for a long time been known to exert a major influence on human neurodevelopment, during prenatal and post-natal life
In the earliest neurodevelopmental stages, TH is present at very low levels in the celomic and amniotic fluids, while TH levels are high in the maternal serum
Summary
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, INRA USC 1370, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS UMR 5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France. Alterations in maternal thyroid physiology may have deleterious consequences on the development of the fetal brain, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, hampering the development of appropriate therapeutic strategies. The present review sums up the contribution of genetically modified mouse models to this field. In parti cular, knocking out genes involved in thyroid hormone (TH) deiodination, transport, and storage has significantly improved the picture that we have of the economy of TH in the fetal brain and the underlying genetic program. These data pave the way for future studies to bridge the gap in knowledge between thyroid physiology and brain development
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