2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Thyroid Aspects

[helvella]

2024-10-07

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet

has today decided to award

the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

jointly to

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun

for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation

This year’s Nobel Prize honors two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.

nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...

With the announcement of this Nobel Prize, I thought that it might be of some interest how the actual discovery is starting to be recognised for its role in the thyroid, and in thyroid disorders.

Just a few links as a starter!

MicroRNAs and thyroid hormone action

Highlights

•microRNAs post-transcriptionally regulate a large fraction of the genome.

•The thyroid hormone receptors act as hormone-dependent transcription factors.

•Diverse microRNAs control receptor levels and intracellular thyroid hormone metabolism.

•The hormone bound receptors control expression of microRNAs with important functions in different tissues.

doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2021....

A video which is from a source which tries to make science accessible - without being patronising!

youtu.be/c692RScUwVY(Not working as expected?)

MicroRNAs in the thyroid

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA comprising approximately 19-25 nucleotides. miRNAs can act as tumour suppressors or oncogenes, and aberrant expression of miRNAs has been reported in several human cancers and has been associated with cancer initiation and progression. Recent evidence suggests that miRNAs play a major role in thyroid carcinogenesis. In this review, we summarize the role of miRNAs in thyroid cancer and describe the oncogenic or tumour suppressor function of miRNAs as well as their clinical utility as prognostic or diagnostic markers in thyroid cancer.

Keywords: circulating microRNA; diagnosis; microRNA; prognosis; thyroid cancer; treatment.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl...

I've only scrabbled to get a few relevant links. Feel free to add more information.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

This should help while away a storm force Sunday 🙃

[TSH110]

Really interesting. Perhaps thyroid study will become very sexy to cutting edge researchers actually discovering wonderful things. It makes TSH worship seem like boring old hat it really is

[helvella Administrator in reply to TSH110]

Very much what I was thinking as I watched the video. I only left it out of my post, as a comment, because I was trying to keep the post as simple (ha!) as possible and avoid complicating by including opinion.

Who will be first to challenge their GP/endo "Well - microDNA studies show..."?

[TSH110 in reply to helvella]

Oh that will be fun! TSH wedded with a gold standard ring GPs will hate it 😁

I want to know the first person here to try it! And what the GP response is…

[BB001 in reply to TSH110]

The typical GP response would be 'doh'. It is too specialist for them. Anyone want to try it on their endo?