title: A transfected human muscle cell line expressing the adult subtype of the human muscle acetylcholine receptor for diagnostic assays in myasthenia gravis.
abstract: Immunoprecipitation of human acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is used in the diagnostic assay for myasthenia gravis (MG). We compared human AChR derived from TE671 cells, which express fetal-type AChR, with AChR from TE671-epsilon cells, which we have engineered to express adult-type AChR. Some low-titer MG sera distinguished strikingly between the two subtypes. Four out of seven MG sera that had equivocal titers in standard assays gave positive titers with TE671-epsilon AChR, whereas only one out of seven gave a positive titer with TE671 cells. The new cell line provides a greater concentration of adult AChR than can be obtained from normal human muscle and increases the sensitivity of the diagnostic assay.
authors.affiliation: Neurosciences Group, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beeson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Newsom-Davis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vincent
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic