Synapse formation requires interactions between pre- and postsynaptic cells to establish the connection of a presynaptic nerve terminal with the neurotransmitter receptor-rich postsynaptic apparatus. At developing vertebrate neuromuscular junctions, acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters of nascent postsynaptic apparatus are not apposed by presynaptic nerve terminals. Two opposing activities su...

Muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) is critical for the synaptic clustering of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and plays multiple roles in the organization and maintenance of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). MuSK is activated by agrin, which is released from motoneurons, and induces AChR clustering at the postsynaptic membrane. Although autoantibodies against the ectodomain of MuSK have been...

To determine if patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) have antibodies to agrin, a proteoglycan released by motor neurons and is critical for neuromuscular junction (NMJ) formation, we collected serum samples from 93 patients with MG with known status of antibodies to acetylcholine receptor (AChR), muscle specific kinase (MuSK) and lipoprotein-related 4 (LRP4) and samples from control subjects (h...

The Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) contains a binding site for aromatic amine noncompetitive antagonists that is distinct from the binding site for agonists and competitive antagonists. To characterize the location and function of this allosteric antagonist site, an alkylating analog of meproadifen has been synthesized, 2-(chloroethylmethylamino)-ethyl-2, 2-diphenylpentanoate H...

The 43 kDa protein, a cytoplasmic peripheral membrane protein, is closely associated with the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) at the neuromuscular junction, where it is thought to anchor the receptor in the postsynaptic membrane. We have used the 43 kDa protein-induced clustering of AChRs that occurs when both proteins are transiently expressed in COS cells to investigate which parts of the AChR ...

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a T-cell dependent autoimmune disorder of the neuromuscular junction, characterised by muscle weakness and fatigability. Autoimmunity is thought to initiate in the thymus of acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-positive MG patients; however, the molecular mechanisms linking intra-thymic MG pathogenesis with autoreactivity via the circulation to the muscle target organ are poo...

The spatio-temporal expression patterns of mRNA transcripts coding for acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunits and myogenic factors were measured in denervated rat soleus muscle and in soleus muscle chronically paralyzed for up to 12 d by conduction block of the sciatic nerve by tetrodotoxin (TTX). In denervated muscle the AChR alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-subunit mRNAs were elevated with hi...

Agrin induces the formation of highly localized specializations on myotubes at which nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and many other components of the postsynaptic apparatus at the vertebrate skeletal neuromuscular junction accumulate. Agrin also induces AChR tyrosine phosphorylation. Treatments that inhibit tyrosine phosphorylation prevent AChR aggregation. To examine further the rela...

We have investigated the mechanisms of assembly and transport to the cell surface of the mouse muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in transiently transfected COS cells. In cells transfected with all four subunit cDNAs, AChR was expressed on the surface with properties resembling those seen in mouse muscle cells (Gu, Y., A. F. Franco, Jr., P.D. Gardner, J. B. Lansman, J. R. Forsayeth,...

Agrin, an extracellular matrix-associated protein extracted from synapse-rich tissues, induces the accumulation of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and other synaptic components into discrete patches on cultured myotubes. The appearance of agrin-like molecules at neuromuscular junctions suggests that it may direct synaptic organization in vivo. In the present study we examined the role of extrac...