The immune response to the iodide transporter.

In addition to physiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic implications, the recently cloned and characterized sodium iodide symporter (NIS) also may play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease. Sodium iodide symporter expression patterns characteristically are changed in autoimmune thyroid disease, including Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which may be caused, in part, by the regulation of sodium iodide symporter expression of cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease. Further, there is increasing evidence that NIS-directed antibodies are present in sera from patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, and these antibodies also may affect NIS functional activity.