Thyroid hormone receptor dimerization function maps to a conserved subregion of the ligand binding domain.

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) bind as dimers to specific DNA response elements. We have used a genetic approach to identify amino acid sequences required for dimerization of the TR beta isoform. Bacteria expressing a chimeric repressor composed of the DNA binding domain of the bacteriophage lambda cl repressor fused to the TR beta ligand binding domain are immune to lambda infection as a consequence of homodimerization activity provided by the receptor sequences. The phenotypes of deletions and point mutations of the TR beta sequences map dimerization activity to a subregion of the ligand binding domain that is highly conserved among all members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. These results confirm and extend previous findings indicating that this subregion plays an important role in the dimerization of TR beta and other superfamily members.