Thyroid hormone receptor α1 as a novel therapeutic target for tissue repair

Analogies between the damaged tissue and developing organ indicate that a regulatory network that drives embryonic organ development may control aspects of tissue repair. In this regard, there is a growing body of experimental and clinical evidence showing that TH may be critical for recovery after injury. Especially TR alpha 1 has been reported to play an essential role in cell proliferation and differentiation and thus in the process of repair/regeneration in the heart and other tissues. Patients after myocardial infarction, stroke or therapeutic interventions [such as PCI for coronary artery disease (CAD)] with lower TH levels appear to have increased morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, TH treatment in clinical settings of ischemia/reperfusion such as by-pass surgery seems to be cardioprotective against ischemic injury. Furthermore, TH therapy of donors is shown to result in organ preservation and increased numbers of donors and improved post-transplantation graft survival. TH and thyroid analogs may prove novel therapeutic agents for tissue repair.