Summary
Experiments were performed on rats. Using the micro — autoradiographic method the author determined the localization of the protein-combined I131 and S35-methionine compounds in the thyroid gland 10 seconds, 5–20 minutes and 1, 4, 24 and 72 hours after the intravenous injection of the labeled preparations. The iodine-thyroglobulin with radioidine inclusion appears first in the colloid. Inclusion of S35-methionine into the thyroglobulin molecule occurs in the follicular epithelium cells. The data obtained demonstrate that thryoglobulin synthesis and its iodization in the thyroid gland occur at different sites. Thyroglobulin synthesis takes place in the follicular cells, while protein iodization — either in the cavity of the follicles or at the border of the apical parts of the cells and colloid. The above led to the convulsion that the thyroid colloid should be regarded not as a place of hormone storage but as a structural unit of the organ which participates in hormone formation.
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Merkulov, M.F. The role of the colloid in the hormone-forming function of the thyroid gland. Bull Exp Biol Med 48, 1370–1374 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00788350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00788350