ABSTRACT
The process of secretion of the thyroid hormone involves several steps: pinocytosis of thyroglobulin, fusion of the colloid droplets with the lysosomes, digestion of thyroglobulin by a cathepsin, dehalogenation of tyrosines and release of thyronines into the blood stream. The present paper describes a double isotope technique for studying the first two steps. Thyrotrophin (TSH) administration to rats increased the radioactivity present in all fractions, specially in the 15 000 × g pellet. When the subcellular distribution of acid phosphatase was determined, the highest specific activity was found in this fraction, thus indicating the presence of lysosomes. The content of radioactive materials in the 15 000 × g pellet was analyzed by trichloroacetic acid precipitation and by ascending paper chromatography using n-butanol:ethanol:ammonium hydroxide (5:1:2;v/v) as solvent system. The results obtained showed that 90% of the radioactivity was protein bound and strongly suggest that this material is thyroglobulin.
