Exploring Graves Disease

Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies produced by your immune system stimulate your thyroid to overproduce hormones. To attain a better idea of Graves’ disease, attention has to be given to how the thyroid works.The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland under the laryngeal prominence or adam’s apple, that is responsible for secreting thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) that increase the body’s metabolic rate. The thyroid is regulated by the hypothalamus gland in the brain that makes thyrotropin-releasing hormones that then stimulate the pituitary gland to make thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) which is what regulates the thyroid’s production of hormones. Both the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland
The thyroid is made up of follicular cells which are responsible for producing T4 and T3 hormones. These follicular cells are controlled by the TSH secreted by the pituitary gland. TSH is released depending on the levels of T4 and T3 in the blood, there after they are recepted by thyroid-stimulating hormone receptors (TSHR) in the follicular cells that then in turn control the amounts of T4 and T3 produced, creating a feedback-regulated stimulation to the thyroid. Those who have Graves’ disease produce TSHR autoantibodies or thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI) that affect the levels of T4 and T3 produced. Autoantibodies that bind and transactivate TSHR stimulate the production of hormones independently of the feedback regulation of the thyroid. This creates high levels of T4 and T3 hormones and a low level of TSH which are vital in diagnosing and testing for this disease. Graves’ disease patients may also develop TSHR blocking antibodies, which do not transactivate TSHR and possibly causing hypothyroidism, an underactive
Cell communication embarks many cell structures however they are three main types of structures in the cell membrane. The three types of receptors embedded in the cell membrane are as follows: G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), tyrosine kinase and ligand-gated ion channels. GPCR are receptor proteins with a G-protein combined so when a ligand locks in with the receptor the G-protein activates an enzyme that ultimately triggers a cell’s response. Tyrosine kinase is a membrane embedded receptor with the amino acid tyrosine. This receptor requires two ligands to function, once two ligands lock in their binding sites, the two receptors will come together. Once combined it attracts adenosine triphosphate which attaches a phosphate molecule to the tyrosine. This triggers different enzymes that form a cellular response.Tyrosine kinase is important in the sense that it can activate multiple cellular responses at once.Ligand-gated ions are similar to protein channels with the exceptions that they are regulated via a gate that opens only with a corresponding ligand. When a ligand, binds to the gate it opens allowing ions to travel through it and trigger a cellular