Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a wellcharacterized autoimmune disease with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 5000 individuals (1 ). The clinical presentation varies from mild weakness of limited muscle groups (class I or ocular MG) to severe weakness of multiple muscle groups (class V or severe generalized MG). Detection of autoantibodies to the neuromuscular nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (ACHR) ha...

Two high-affinity mAbs were prepared against Torpedo dystrophin, an electric organ protein that is closely similar to human dystrophin, the gene product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy locus. The antibodies were used to localize dystrophin relative to acetylcholine receptors (AChR) in electric organ and in skeletal muscle, and to show identity between Torpedo dystrophin and the previously de...

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease, which characterized by postsynaptic neuromuscular transmission defect, with antibodies directly targeting the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or other structural proteins of junction. The majority MG cases are associated thymic pathologies, including thymoma, thyroiditis, diseases malignant hematologic neoplasia. present study reported...

The effect of extracellular Ca2+ concentration and myasthenic globulin on the distribution and appearance of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters on rat myotubes was studied with tetramethyl-rhodamine-labeled alpha BTX. Low Ca2+ medium (2.5 X 10(-5) M) caused a time-dependent loss of AChR clusters, and a concomitant increase in small punctate areas of fluorescence. High Ca2+ concentrations (1...

A 58-kD protein, identified in extracts of postsynaptic membrane from Torpedo electric organ, is enriched at sites where acetylcholine receptors (AChR) are concentrated in vertebrate muscle (Froehner, S. C., A. A. Murnane, M. Tobler, H. B. Peng, and R. Sealock. 1987. J. Cell Biol. 104:1633-1646). We have studied the 58-kD protein in AChR clusters isolated from cultured rat myotubes. Using immun...

Agrin, a motoneuron-derived factor, and the muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) are essential for the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clustering at the postjunctional membrane. However, the underlying signaling mechanisms remain poorly defined. We show that agrin stimulates a dynamic translocation of the AChR into lipid rafts-cholesterol and sphingolipid-rich microdomains in the plasm...

Assembly of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunits was investigated using mouse fibroblast cell lines stably expressing either Torpedo (All-11) or mouse (AM-4) alpha, beta, gamma, and delta AChR subunits. Both cell lines produce fully functional cell surface AChRs. We find that two independent treatments, lower temperature and increased intracellular cAMP can increase AChR expression ...

Agrin induces, whereas acetylcholine (ACh) disperses, ACh receptor (AChR) clusters during neuromuscular synaptogenesis. Such counteractive interaction leads to eventual dispersal of nonsynaptic AChR-rich sites and formation of receptor clusters at the postjunctional membrane. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we show that calpain, a calcium-dependent protease, is ...

The assembly of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AchR) and the 43-kD protein (v1), the two major components of the post synaptic membrane of the electromotor synapse, was followed in Torpedo marmorata electrocyte during embryonic development by immunocytochemical methods. At the first developmental stage investigated (45-mm embryos), accumulation of AchR at the ventral pole of the newly fo...