Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38310936›Full record

ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2024

Thyroid hormone links environmental signals to DNA methylation.

Frank Seebacher, Alexander G Little

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Ambient Developmental Temperatures and Maternal Thyroid Supply Promote Early Life Diversification in Salmonids.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Postnatal maternal care impacts hypothalamicbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  4. Endocrine responses to environmental variation.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Frank SeebacherSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences A08, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2281-9311
Alexander G LittleDepartment of Biology, Life Sciences Building, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1.
McMaster University · CAThe University of Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Environmental conditions experienced within and across generations can impact individual phenotypes via so-called 'epigenetic' processes. Here we suggest that endocrine signalling acts as a 'sensor' linking environmental inputs to epigenetic modifications. We focus on thyroid hormone signalling and DNA methylation, but other mechanisms are likely to act in a similar manner. DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic mechanisms, which alters gene expression patterns by methylating cytosine bases via DNA methyltransferase enzymes. Thyroid hormone is mechanistically linked to DNA methylation, at least partly by regulating the activity of DNA methyltransferase 3a, which is the principal enzyme that mediates epigenetic responses to environmental change. Thyroid signalling is sensitive to natural and anthropogenic environmental impacts (e.g. light, temperature, endocrine-disrupting pollution), and here we propose that thyroid hormone acts as an environmental sensor to mediate epigenetic modifications. The nexus between thyroid hormone signalling and DNA methylation can integrate multiple environmental signals to modify phenotypes, and coordinate phenotypic plasticity at different time scales, such as within and across generations. These dynamics can have wide-ranging effects on health and fitness of animals, because they influence the time course of phenotypic adjustments and potentially the range of environmental stimuli that can elicit epigenetic responses. This article is part of the theme issue 'Endocrine responses to environmental variation: conceptual approaches and recent developments'.

Indexed as

DNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticAnimalsEnvironmentPhenotypeThyroid HormonesThyroid Hormonesartificial light-at-nightendocrine-disrupting compoundsepigeneticsphenotypic plasticitytemperature

Identifiers

PMID38310936
PMCPMC10838643
OpenAlexW4392737570

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.