Acetylcholine receptor gene expression in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis

AbstractAcetylcholine receptor (AChR) gene expression was analyzed in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) in rabbits, rats and mice. An increase in AChR transcripts was demonstrated to be exclusively associated with myasthénie symptoms and with a severe loss in membrane AChR. An increase of α-, β-, ϵ-, and δ-subunit specific mRNAs (5.2-, 1.6-, 3.2- and 3.7-fold, respectively), which code for the adult type of AChR (α2βϵδ) was observed in EAMG in rats. The γ-subunit transcript was not detectable in myasthenie or healthy rats. It appears that the regulatory control of AChR gene expression in EAMG is different from that observed upon denervation