Identification of protein precursor for thyroid hormone synthesis in basal chordate ascidian Styela clava (opens in new tab)

Thyroid hormones (THs) are essential for development, growth, and metabolism in animals. Although TH synthesis is well described in vertebrates, it remains elusive in invertebrates due to the lack of identified thyroglobulin (TG) orthologs, the protein precursor for TH synthesis. Here, we identified a functional TG-like protein in ascidian Styela clava via immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry combined with phylogenetic and expression analyses. In vitro iodination demonstrated that ScTG-like ...