TSHR-IGF-IR complex drives orbital fibroblast misbehavior in thyroid eye disease

Evolving understanding of thyroid eye disease (TED) has led to rapidly advancing therapeutic options. Most new treatments under development or recently available to patients are predicated on insights into disease mechanism.

TED, a disfiguring process, involves inflammation and remodeling of the connective tissues around the eye. TED most frequently presents as a component of Graves' disease. Advances in our understanding of cells involved in TED and their molecular interactions have led to novel therapeutic targets. Among these cell types are orbital fibroblasts and a subset comprising monocyte progenitor cells, known as CD34 + CXCR4 + fibrocytes. Among the attributes of fibrocytes is their expression of several autoantigens associated with Graves' disease, including TSHR, thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase. Fibrocytes also express high levels of the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptor, thought to mediate fibroblast activation. Therapeutically targeting the TSHR/IGF-IR receptor complex using an IGF-I receptor antagonist, teprotumumab, has resulted in substantial clinical benefit for patients with TED. The neural axon repellent, Slit2, and its cognate receptor, ROBO1, appear to modulate the inflammatory phenotype of these orbit-infiltrating fibrocytes.

More detailed understanding of orbital fibroblasts and the distinctions between cell subsets comprising them should lead to more effective therapies with fewer side effects.