Abstract

Introduction

Recent studies have revealed the presence of zinc and the expression of zinc transporter (ZnT) family members in most endocrine cell types. It was demonstrated that ZnT family plays an important role in the synthesis and secretion of many hormones. Moreover, recently ZnT8 was described as a newly islet autoantigen in type 1 diabetes.

Materials and methods

We studied the expression of ZnT8 transporter in thyroid tissues from patients with immune and non-immune thyroid diseases. The study was performed in thyroid tissues after thyroidectomy from patients with thyroid non-toxic nodular goitre (NTNG; n = 17, mean age 15.8 ± 2.2 years) and cases with Graves’ disease (n = 20, mean age 15.6 ± 2.8).

In our study we investigated the expression of ZnT8 in human thyroid tissues from patients with immune and non-immune thyroid diseases using immunohistochemistry, Western Blot as well as immunofluorescence analyses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation which identified ZnT8 protein expression in human thyroid tissues, moreover, confirmed by three different laboratory techniques.

Results and Conclusions

1. Expression of ZnT8 transporter was identified by immunohistochemistry in the thyroid tissues from paediatric patients with Graves’ disease (on +++) and non-toxic nodular goitre (on ++).

2. ZnT8 transporter expression was found both in thyroid follicular cells (within the cytoplasm and cytoplasmic membrane in follicular cells) and C cells (membrane-cytoplasmic reaction) in fluorescence.

3. Predominant expression of ZnT8 in band 41 kDa in immune than in non-immune thyroid disorders may suggest potential role of ZnT8 as a new thyroid autoanitgen but it requires further study on a larger cohort.

中文翻译：

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锌转运蛋白8在免疫性和非免疫性甲状腺疾病患者甲状腺组织中的表达。

摘要

介绍

最近的研究揭示了锌的存在和锌转运蛋白 (ZnT) 家族成员在大多数内分泌细胞类型中的表达。结果表明，ZnT家族在多种激素的合成和分泌中起重要作用。此外，最近 ZnT8 被描述为 1 型糖尿病中的一种新的胰岛自身抗原。

材料和方法

我们研究了免疫性和非免疫性甲状腺疾病患者甲状腺组织中 ZnT8 转运蛋白的表达。该研究是在甲状腺无毒结节性甲状腺肿患者（NTNG；n  = 17，平均年龄 15.8 ± 2.2 岁）和 Graves 病病例（n  = 20，平均年龄 15.6 ± 2.8）的甲状腺切除术后的甲状腺组织中进行的。

在我们的研究中，我们使用免疫组织化学、蛋白质印迹和免疫荧光分析调查了免疫和非免疫性甲状腺疾病患者的人类甲状腺组织中 ZnT8 的表达。据我们所知，这是首次在人类甲状腺组织中鉴定出 ZnT8 蛋白表达的研究，此外，还通过三种不同的实验室技术进行了证实。

结果和结论

1. ZnT8 转运蛋白的表达通过免疫组织化学在患有 Graves 病（在 +++ 上）和无毒结节性甲状腺肿（在 ++ 上）的儿科患者的甲状腺组织中进行鉴定。

2. ZnT8 转运蛋白表达在甲状腺滤泡细胞（在滤泡细胞的细胞质和细胞质膜内）和 C 细胞（膜 - 细胞质反应）中均有发现。

3. 与非免疫性甲状腺疾病相比，免疫中 41 kDa 带中 ZnT8 的主要表达可能表明 ZnT8 作为一种新的甲状腺自身抗原的潜在作用，但需要对更大的队列进行进一步研究。