Iodine - Biological Role

Biological Role

Iodine is an essential trace element for life, the heaviest element commonly needed by living organisms. Only tungsten, a component of a few bacterial enzymes, has a higher atomic number and atomic weight.

Iodine's main role in animal biology is as a constituent of the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These are made from addition condensation products of the amino acid tyrosine, and are stored prior to release in an iodine-containing protein called thyroglobulin. T4 and T3 contain four and three atoms of iodine per molecule, respectively. The thyroid gland actively absorbs iodide from the blood to make and release these hormones into the blood, actions that are regulated by a second hormone TSH from the pituitary. Thyroid hormones are phylogenetically very old molecules that are synthesized by most multicellular organisms, and that even have some effect on unicellular organisms.

Thyroid hormones play a basic role in biology, acting on gene transcription to regulate the basal metabolic rate. The total deficiency of thyroid hormones can reduce basal metabolic rate up to 50%, while in excessive production of thyroid hormones the basal metabolic rate can be increased by 100%. T4 acts largely as a precursor to T3, which is (with minor exceptions) the biologically active hormone. In amphibian metamorphosis iodine and thyroid hormones exert a well-studied experimental model of apoptosis on the cells of gills, tail, and fins of tadpoles.

Iodine has a nutritional relationship with selenium. A family of selenium-dependent enzymes called deiodinases converts T4 to T3 (the active hormone) by removing an iodine atom from the outer tyrosine ring. These enzymes also convert T4 to reverse T3 (rT3) by removing an inner ring iodine atom, and convert T3 to 3,3'-diiodothyronine (T2) also by removing an inner ring atom. Both of the latter are inactivated hormones that are ready for disposal and have, in essence, no biological effects. A family of non-selenium-dependent enzymes then further deiodinates the products of these reactions.

Iodine accounts for 65% of the molecular weight of T4 and 59% of the T3. Fifteen to 20 mg of iodine is concentrated in thyroid tissue and hormones, but 70% of the body's iodine is distributed in other tissues, including mammary glands, eyes, gastric mucosa, arterial walls, the cervix, and salivary glands. In the cells of these tissues, iodide enters directly by sodium-iodide symporter (NIS). Its role in mammary tissue is related to fetal and neonatal development, but its role in the other tissues is unknown.