Thymic B lymphocyte clones from patients with myasthenia gravis secrete monoclonal striational autoantibodies reacting with myosin, alpha actinin, or actin.

• DOI: 10.1084/jem.164.4.1043
• Publication Date: 2004-06-24T07:56:10Z
• Authors: C L Williams; V A Lennon
• Keywords: Actinin

Striational autoantibodies (StrAb), which react with elements of skeletal muscle cross-striations, occur frequently in patients thymoma associated myasthenia gravis (MG). Dissociated thymic lymphocytes from 22 72 MG secreted StrAb when cultured PWM. A high yield EBV-transformed B cell lines was established thymus, thymoma, and peripheral blood seven MG, but clones secreting arose only the three who had their sera. The monoclonal bound to bands or I human, rat, frog. One mitochondria addition myofibrillar bands. None nuclei, smooth muscle, gastric mucosal cells. In immunoblot analyses ELISAs nonmuscle isotypes myosin, alpha actinin, and/or actin. All contractile proteins common thymus one selectively immunostained epithelial cells medulla. From these antigenic specificities we suggest that might arise as an immune response directed against cytoskeletal anchoring nicotinic acetylcholine receptors undergoing neoplastic transformation thymoma.