Acute Changes in Maternal Thyroid Hormone Induce Rapid and Transient Changes in Gene Expression in Fetal Rat Brain
PI: Robert Zoeller
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Background: Scientists have known for some time that thyroid hormone is essential for proper brain development, but the influence of thyroid hormone was thought to be after birth. By giving pregnant female rats large doses of a thyroid hormone known as T4 prior to fetal thyroid development, they were able to demonstrate expression of genes in the fetal brain tissue. Thyroid hormone receptors activate gene expression only after they have been bound to hormone. Dr. Zoeller's roup is the first to identify thyroid hormone responsive genes in rodent fetal brain tissue.
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