title: The mechanism of acetylcholine receptor in binding MuSK in myasthenia gravis and the role of HSP90 molecular chaperone.
abstract: As an autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis is caused by the dysfunction of neural transmission. Acetylcholine is known to exert its function after entering into synaptic cleft through binding onto postsynaptic membrane. The role of acetylcholine in binding MuSK in myasthenia gravis, however, remains unknown. A total of 38 myasthenia gravis patients and 27 healthy controls were included in this study for the detection of the expression of MuSK using immunofluorescent method. Expression of both MuSK and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by Western blot, followed by the correlation analysis between heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and IL-6 which were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In myasthenia gravis patients, MuSK was co-localized with acetylcholine at the postsynaptic membrane. Such accumulation of MuSK, however, did not occur in normal people. Meanwhile we also observed elevated expression of IL-6 in myasthenia gravis patients (p<0.05). ELISA assay showed higher expression of HSP90 in patients. Further signaling pathway screening revealed the activation of IL-6-mediated pathways including STAT3 and SPH2. In conclusion, MuSK was co-localized with acetylcholine in myasthenia gravis patients, with elevated expression. HSP90 in disease people can activate IL-6 mediated signaling pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Rongbo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Siqia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Acetylcholine; MuSK; heat-shock protein 90; molecular chaperone