Is experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis induced only by acetylcholine receptors?

Abstract

EAMG has been induced in a wide variety of animals by using AcChR purified from electric organ and muscle sources. Electrophoresis of SDS polyacrylamide gels heavily loaded with purified AcChR often reveals the presence of minor contaminants. To test whether these contaminants or any other components present in Torpedo californica AcChR preparations could induce EAMG, solubilized Torpedo membrane fragments were depleted of AcChR by passage over an alpha-BuTx-conjugated resin and then injected into Lewis rats in an attempt to induce EAMG. The results demonstrated that some of the minor contaminants present in purified AcChR preparations were antigenic, but EAMG could not be induced with preparations enriched in these contaminants or containing other Torpedo non-AcChR components and lacking AcChR. The conclusion drawn from this study was that the acetylcholine receptor was the only component present in Triton X-100-solubilized Torpedo californica membrane fragments that could induce EAMG.