Identification of type I iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase as a selenoenzyme.

A 27.8 kDa membrane selenoprotein was previously identified in rat thyroid, liver and kidney, the tissues with the highest activities of type I iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase. This membrane enzyme catalyzes the deiodination of L-thyroxine to the biologically active thyroid hormone 3,3',5-triiodothyronine. A decrease in the activity of this enzyme, observed here in the liver of selenium-deficient rats, was found to be due to the absence of a selenium-dependent membrane-bound component. By chemical and enzymatic fragmentation of the 75Se-labeled selenoprotein and of the 27 kDa substrate binding type I 5'-deiodinase subunit, affinity-labeled with N-bromoacetyl-[125I]L-thyroxine, and comparison of the tracer distribution in the peptide fragments the identity of the two proteins was shown. The data indicate that the deiodinase subunit contains one selenium atom per molecule and suggest that a highly reactive selenocysteine is the residue essential for the catalysis of 5'-deiodination. From the results it can be concluded that type I iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase is a selenoenzyme.