autoantigenic

Thyroid peroxidase is a membrane-bound glycoprotein which belongs to the peroxidase family, XPO subfamily. It contains 1 EGF-like domain and 1 Sushi (CCP SCR) domain. Thyroid Peroxidase represents one of the main autoantigenic targets in autoimmune thyroid disease of humans. It used to be taken as the formerly so-called `microsomal antigen` several years ago. As an integral membrane glycoprotein it is restricted to the apical plasma membrane of the follicular epithelial cells and comprises two identical subunits of approx 100 kDa molecular weight. Thyroid peroxidase is an enzyme expressed abundantly in the thyroid that liberates iodine for addition onto tyrosine residues on thyroglobulin for the production of thyroxine or triiodothyronine, thyroid hormones. Thyroid peroxidase plays a key role in the thyroid hormone biosynthesis by catalysing both the iodination of tyrosyl residues and the coupling of iodotyrosyl residues in thyroglobulin to form precursors of the thyroid hormones T4 and T3.