Electrophoretic immunoblotting analysis of anti-thymus microsome antibodies in patients with myasthenia gravis.
Anti-thymus microsome antibodies and anti-skeletal muscle microsome antibodies in sera from patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were analyzed by means of immunoblotting, which was performed after SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of antigens to clarify the pathogenic role of the thymus in MG. Anti-thymus microsome antibodies were detected in 15 of the 20 cases of MG examined. The detection frequency (75%) was significantly higher than the corresponding frequency determined for anti-muscle microsome antibodies (35%) in the same group of patients. Thymic antigens with a molecular weight of 38 kilodaltons (KD), 60 KD and 220 KD were often recognized by antibodies in sera from MG patients studied here. The anti-thymus microsome antibodies were not cross-reactive with either thymic acetylcholine receptors or lymphocyte surfaces. These findings indicated that the specific antibodies were produced to the thymic microsomal fraction, and its frequency was higher than has been suspected in MG patients.
Hazama
T
T
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Takahashi
M
M
Ueno
S
S
Tarui
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008861:Microsomes; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000276:immunology*; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies