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Amphibian (Xenopus sp.) iodothyronine deiodinase production for screening of thyroid-disrupting chemicals
Citation:
Mayasich, S. Amphibian (Xenopus sp.) iodothyronine deiodinase production for screening of thyroid-disrupting chemicals. Twin Ports Early Career Scientists Symposium, Duluth, MN, March 30, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
The Twin Ports Early Career Scientists is a new group formed within the Duluth-Superior scientific community. This presentation will provide a basic introduction to my research and our mission at EPA, and help to establish networking and collaboration relationships across disciplines and institutions.
Description:
The U.S. EPA-MED amphibian thyroid group is currently screening chemicals for inhibition of human iodothyronine deiodinase activity as components of the thyroid system important in human development. Amphibians are a bellwether taxonomic group to gauge toxicity of chemicals in the environment. Amphibian thyroid function is not only important in development but also metamorphosis. Xenopus sp. have been used extensively as model organisms and are well characterized genetically. We propose to screen a list of chemicals (selected from the human DIO screening results) to test for inhibition of Xenopus deiodinases. Large quantities of the enzymes will be produced using an adenovirus system. Our preliminary results show that there may be catalytic differences between human and Xenopus deiodinases.