Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Beta (TSHb)

Thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) is a noncovalently linked glycoprotein heterodimer and is part of a family of pituitary hormones containing a common alpha subunit (TSHA) and a unique beta subunit that confers specificity.Using bovine TSHB cDNA as probe, Hayashizaki et al. (1985) cloned TSHB from human liver and leukocyte genomic DNA libraries. Human TSHB encodes a deduced protein consisting of a 20-amino acid signal sequence, a mature protein of 112 amino acids, and a C-terminal extension of 6 hydrophobic amino acids. Wondisford et al. (1988) also cloned the human TSHB gene.Wondisford et al. (1988) determined that the TSHB gene contains 3 exons, the first of which is noncoding. The rat TSHB gene also contains one 5-prime noncoding exon, whereas the mouse Tshb gene contains 3.