R. Thomas Zoeller

Research Interests

Thyroid hormone is essential for normal brain development. The main focus of research in the laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanism(s) by which thyroid hormone affects brain development and brain function. We pursue this goal within the context of two large projects. First, we are cloning genes expressed in the fetal brain that are regulated by maternal thyroid hormone. These genes have led us to examine the effect of thyroid hormone on cortical cell proliferation, differentiation and fate specification. Second, we are examining the mechanisms by which thyroid hormone action can be disrupted by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These chemicals are structurally similar to thyroid hormone. PCBs are known to affect neural development and they can alter circulating levels of thyroid hormone.

Representative Publications

Sharlin, D.S., Gilbert, M.E., Taylor, M.A., Ferguson, D.C., Zoeller, R.T. 2009. The nature of the compensatory response to low thyroid hormone in the developing brain. J. Neurosci., In Revision.

Myers, J.P., vom Saal, F.S., Akingbemi, B.T., Arizono, K., Belcher, S., Colborn, T., Chahoud, I., Crain, D.A., Farabollini, F., Guillette, L.J., Jr., Hassold, T., Ho, S.M., Hunt, P.A., Iguchi, T., Jobling, S., Kanno, J., Laufer, H., Marcus, M., McLachlan, J.A., Nadal, A., Oehlmann, J., Olea, N., Palanza, P., Parmigiani, S., Rubin, B.S., Schoenfelder, G., Sonnenschein, C., Soto, A.M., Talsness, C.E., Taylor, J.A., Vandenberg, L.N., Vandenbergh, J.G., Vogel, S., Watson, C.S., Welshons, W.V., Zoeller, R.T. 2009. Why public health agencies cannot depend on good laboratory practices as a criterion for selecting data: The case of bisphenol a. Environ. Health Perspect., 117: 309-315.

Miller, M.D., Crofton, K.M., Rice, D.C., Zoeller, R.T. 2009. Thyroid-disrupting chemicals: Interpreting upstream biomarkers of adverse outcomes. Environ. Health Perspect., 117: 1033-1041.

Dong, H., Yauk, C.L., Rowan-Carroll, A., You, S.H., Zoeller, R.T., Lambert, I., Wade, M.G. 2009. Identification of thyroid hormone receptor binding sites and target genes using chip-on-chip in developing mouse cerebellum. PLoS ONE, 4: e4610.

Diamanti-Kandarakis, E., Bourguignon, J.P., Giudice, L.C., Hauser, R., Prins, G.S., Soto, A.M., Zoeller, R.T., Gore, A.C. 2009. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: An endocrine society scientific statement. Endocrine Reviews, 30: 293-342.

Sharlin, D.S., Tighe, D., Gilbert, M.E., Zoeller, R.T. 2008. The balance between oligodendrocyte and astrocyte production in major white matter tracts is linearly related to serum total thyroxine. Endocrinology, 149: 2527-2536.

Degon, M., Chipkin, S.R., Hollot, C.V., Zoeller, R.T., Chait, Y. 2008. A computational model of the human thyroid. Mathematical Biosciences, 212: 22-53.

Bansal, R., Zoeller, R.T. 2008. Polychlorinated biphenyls (aroclor 1254) do not uniformly produce agonist actions on thyroid hormone responses in the developing rat brain. Endocrinology, 149: 4001-4008.

Rice, D.C., Reeve, E.A., Herlihy, A., Thomas Zoeller, R. Douglas, Thompson, W., Markowski, V.P. 2007. Developmental delays and locomotor activity in the c57bl6/j mouse following neonatal exposure to the fully-brominated pbde, decabromodiphenyl ether. Neurotoxicol Teratol, 29: 511-520.

Jagalur, M., Pal, C., Learned-Miller, E., Zoeller, R.T., Kulp, D. 2007. Analyzing in situ gene expression in the mouse brain with image registration, feature extraction and block clustering. BMC Bioinformatics 8 Suppl 10: S5.

Ginsberg, G.L., Hattis, D.B., Zoeller, R.T., Rice, D.C. 2007. Evaluation of the u.S. Epa/oswer preliminary remediation goal for perchlorate in groundwater: Focus on exposure to nursing infants. Environ. Health Perspect., 115: 361-369.

Gauger, K.J., Giera, S., Sharlin, D.S., Bansal, R,. Iannacone, E., Zoeller, R.T. 2007. Polychlorinated biphenyls 105 and 118 form thyroid hormone receptor agonists after cytochrome p4501a1 activation in rat pituitary gh3 cells. Environ. Health Perspect., 115: 1623-1630.

Zoeller, R.T. 2006. Collision of basic and applied approaches to risk assessment of thyroid toxicants. Ann N Y Acad. Sci., 1076: 168-190.

You, S.H., Gauger, K.J., Bansal, R., Zoeller, R.T. 2006. 4-hydroxy-pcb106 acts as a direct thyroid hormone receptor agonist in rat gh3 cells. Mol. Cell Endocrinol., 257-258: 26-34.

Sharlin, D.S., Bansal, R., Zoeller, R.T. 2006. Polychlorinated biphenyls exert selective effects on cellular composition of white matter in a manner inconsistent with thyroid hormone insufficiency. Endocrinology, 147: 846-858.

Zoeller, R.T., Bansal, R., Parris, C. 2005. Bisphenol-a, an environmental contaminant that acts as a thyroid hormone receptor antagonist in vitro, increases serum thyroxine, and alters rc3/neurogranin expression in the developing rat brain. Endocrinology, 146: 607-612.

Zoeller, R.T. 2005. Environmental chemicals as thyroid hormone analogues: New studies indicate that thyroid hormone receptors are targets of industrial chemicals? Mol. Cell Endocrinol., 242: 10-15.

Zoeller, R.T. 2005. Thyroid hormone and brain development: Environmental influences. Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes, 12: 31-35.

Bansal, R., You, S.H., Herzig, C.T., Zoeller, R.T. 2005. Maternal thyroid hormone increases hes expression in the fetal rat brain: An effect mimicked by exposure to a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs). Brain Research, 156: 13-22.

Zoeller, R.T., Rovet, J. 2004. Timing of thyroid hormone action in the developing brain: Clinical observations and experimental findings. J. Neuroendocrinol., 16: 809-818.

Gauger, K.J., Kato, Y., Haraguchi, K., Lehmler, H.J., Robertson, L.W., Bansal, R., Zoeller, R.T. 2004. Polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) exert thyroid hormone-like effects in the fetal rat brain but do not bind to thyroid hormone receptors. Environ. Health Perspect., 112: 516-523.

Zoeller, R.T., Dowling , A.L.S., Herzig, C.T.A., Iannacone, E.A., Gauger, K.J., Bansal, R. 2002. Thyroid hormone, brain development, and the environment. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110 (Suppl 3): 355-361.