- The sodium-iodide symporter protein is always present at a low expression and confined to the cell membrane in nonfunctioning nonadenomatous nodules of toxic nodular goitre. Tonacchera, M., Viacava, P., Fanelli, G., Agretti, P., De Marco, G., De Servi, M., Di Cosmo, C., Chiovato, L., Pinchera, A., Vitti, P. Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf) (2004)