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β-Adrenergic stimulation of cyclic AMP and protein kinase activity in the thyroid

Abstract

THE demonstration that the sympathetic nervous system can have a direct effect on the thyroid1, and the increasing clinical use of adrenergic blocking agents in thyrotoxicosis have reawakened interest in the effects of catecholamines on the thyroid. We have therefore compared the effects of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and isoproterenol, a β-adreneirgic stimulator, on the activation of protein kinase within the thyroid by cyclic AMP. We have also compared the inhibitory effects of the β-blocker propranolol, and the α-blocker phentolamine in this system. We found that isoproterenol is stimulatory at concentrations as low as 10−8 M, and that l-propranolol, but not d-propranolol blocks this effect.

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SPAULDING, S., BURROW, G. β-Adrenergic stimulation of cyclic AMP and protein kinase activity in the thyroid. Nature 254, 347–349 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254347a0

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