The sites of thyroid hormone formation in rabbit thyroglobulin

Rabbit thyroglobulin (Tg) was labeled in vivo with 125I and purified by gel filtration. Separation by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of tryptic digests of S-cyanoethylated Tg yielded four major iodothyronine-containing peaks, designated A, B, C, and D. These were further purified on HPLC and sequenced for identification of amino acid residues and for location of the iodothyronine by 125I counting. The published primary structure for bovine Tg, derived from cDNA sequencing of the Tg gene (Mercken, L., Simons, M.J., Swillens, S., Massaer, M., and Vassart, G. (1985) Nature 316, 647-651), permitted tentative location of the rabbit hormonogenic peptides within the Tg polypeptide chain. Site A, corresponding to bovine residue 5, contained 44% of Tgs [125I]T4 (thyroxine) and 25% of its [125I]T3 (triiodothyronine); its specific activity of iodine was higher than that for other sites, indicating priority of iodination. Site B, containing 24% of Tgs [125I]T4 and 18% of its [125I]T3, corresponded to bovine residue 2555. Site C, at the third residue from the C terminus (bovine residue 2748), was the major T3 site, accounting for over 50% of Tgs [125I]T3. The amino acid sequence around this site shows less homology among different animal species than do those flanking the other hormonogenic sites. Site D accounted for 17% of Tgs [125I]T4 and corresponded to bovine Tyr-1291, in the midportion of Tgs polypeptide chain. The three major T4-forming sites had the sequence Asp-Tyr (sites B and D) or Glu-Tyr (site A), while the sequence Ser-Tyr-Ser appeared to favor T3 synthesis (site C), suggesting an important influence of primary structure on hormonogenesis. We conclude that site A is the major T4-forming site and site C the major T3-forming one, but others are available and offer the opportunity for flexibility in meeting different demands for hormone formation.