Papers

Thyroid hormone is crucial in the development of different organs, particularly the brain. MCT8 is a specific transporter of triiodothyronine (T3) hormone and MCT8 gene mutations cause a rare X-linked disorder named MCT8 deficiency, also known as Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, characterized by psychomotor retardation and hypotonia. Typically, elevation of T3 and delayed myelination in cerebral magnetic resonance imaging are found. Case presentation: We present a 24-month-old boy, born from non-consanguineous healthy parents, with severe motor and cognitive delay and global hypotonia, being unable to hold head upright or sit without support. Deep tendon reflexes were absent bilaterally at the ankles. T3 was elevated and thyroxine slightly decreased, consistent with MCT8 deficiency.

Thyroid hormones (TH) cross the plasma membrane with the help of transporter proteins. As charged amino acid derivatives, TH cannot simply diffuse across a lipid bilayer membrane, despite their notorious hydrophobicity. The identification of monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8, SLC16A2) as a specific and very active TH transporter paved the way to the finding that mutations in the MCT8 gene cause a syndrome of psychomotor retardation in humans. The purpose of this review is to introduce the current model of transmembrane transport and highlight the diversity of TH transmembrane transporters.

The mechanisms and treatment of psychomotor retardation, which includes motor and cognitive impairment, are indefinite. The Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome (AHDS) is an X-linked psychomotor retardation characterized by delayed development, severe intellectual disability, muscle hypotonia, and spastic paraplegia, in combination with disturbed thyroid hormone (TH) parameters. AHDS has been associated with mutations in the monocarboxylate transporter 8 (mct8/ slc16a2) gene, which is a TH transporter. In order to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of AHDS, MCT8 knockout mice were intensively studied. Although these mice faithfully replicated the abnormal serum TH levels, they failed to exhibit the neurological and behavioral symptoms of AHDS patients. Here, we generated an mct8 mutant (mct82/2) zebrafish using zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN) mediated targeted gene editing system.

Patients with the monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) deficiency syndrome presents with a severe psychomotor retardation and abnormal serum thyroid hormone (TH) levels, consisting of high T3 and low T4 and rT3. Mice deficient in Mct8 replicate the thyroid phenotype of patients with the MCT8 gene mutations. We analyzed the serum TH levels and action in the cerebral cortex and in the liver during the perinatal period of mice deficient in Mct8 to assess how the thyroid abnormalities of Mct8 deficiency develop and to study the thyroidal status of specific tissues. During perinatal life, the thyroid phenotype of Mct8-deficient mice is different from that of adult mice. They manifest hyperthyroxinemia at embryonic day 18 and postnatal day 0. This perinatal hyperthyroxinemia is accompanied by manifestations of TH excess as evidenced by a relative increase in the expression of genes positively regulated by T3 in both the cerebral cortexandliver

MCT8deficiency causes severe X-linked intellectualandneuropsychological impairment associated with abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs) producing thyroid hormone (TH) deprivation in brain and excess in peripheral tissues. The TH analogue diiodothyropropionic acid (DITPA) corrected the TFTs abnormalities and hypermetabolism of MCT8 deficient children but did not improve the neurological phenotype. The latter result was attributed to the late initiation of treatment. Therefore, we gave DITPA to pregnant mice carrying Mct8 deficient embryos, in order to determine whether DITPA, when given prenatally, crosses the placenta, and affects the serum TFTs and cerebral cortex of embryos.

Functional screening for compounds that promote remyelination represents a major hurdle in the development of rational therapeutics for multiple sclerosis. Screening for remyelination is problematic, as myelination requires the presence of axons. Standard methods do not resolve cell-autonomous effects and are not suited for high-throughput formats. Here we describe a binary indicant for myelination using micropillar arrays (BIMA). Engineered with conical dimensions, micropillars permit resolution of the extent and length of membrane wrapping from a single two-dimensional image.

Thyroid hormone entry into cells is facilitated by transmembrane transporters. Mutations of the specific thyroid hormone transporter, MCT8 (Monocarboxylate Transporter 8, SLC16A2) cause an X-linked syndrome of profound neurological impairment and altered thyroid function known as the Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome. MCT8 deficiency presumably results in failure of thyroid hormone to reach the neural target cells in adequate amounts to sustain normal brain development. However during the perinatal period the absence of Mct8 in mice induces a state of cerebral cortex hyperthyroidism, indicating increased brain access and/or retention of thyroid hormone.

Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, an X-linked condition characterized by severe intellectual disability, dysarthria, athetoid movements, muscle hypoplasia, and spastic paraplegia, is associated with defects in the monocarboxylate transporter 8 gene (MCT8). The long-term prognosis of Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome remains uncertain.

Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome (AHDS), a severe form of psychomotor retardation with abnormal thyroid hormone (TH) parameters, is linked to mutations in the TH-specific monocarboxylate transporter MCT8. In mice, deletion of Mct8 (Mct8 KO) faithfully replicates AHDS-associated endocrine abnormalities; however, unlike patients, these animals do not exhibit neurological impairments. While transport of the active form of TH (T3) across the blood-brain barrier is strongly diminished in Mct8 KO animals, prohormone (T4) can still enter the brain, possibly due to the presence of T4-selective organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP1C1).

The importance of the thyroid hormone (TH) transporter, monocarboxylate transporter (MCT8), to human neurodevelopment is highlighted by findings of severe global neurological impairment in subjects with MCT8 mutations. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), usually due to uteroplacental failure, is associated with milder neurodevelopmental deficits, which have been partly attributed to dysregulated TH action in utero secondary to reduced circulating fetal TH concentrations and decreased cerebral TH receptor expression. We postulate that altered MCT8 expression is implicated in this pathophysiology and sought to quantify changes in cortical MCT8 expression with IUGR.