Disclosed herein is an electrostatic discharge protection structure which includes a signal line, a thin-film transistor and a shunt wire. The thin-film transistor includes a gate electrode, a metal-oxide semiconductor layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode. The first metal-oxide semiconductor layer is disposed above the first gate electrode. The metal-oxide semiconductor layer has a channel region characterized in having a width/length ratio of less than 1. The source electrode is equipotentially connected to the gate electrode. The shunt wire is electrically connected to the drain electrode. When the signal line receives a voltage surge of greater than a predetermined magnitude, the voltage surge is shunted through the thin-film transistor to the shunt wire.