期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1975
卷号:72
期号:4
页码:1456-1459
DOI:10.1073/pnas.72.4.1456
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:A defined immunological cross-reaction was observed between acetylcholine receptor fraction from the electric eel, Electrophorus electricus, and two calf thymus fractions. The cross-reaction was demonstrated on the cellular level by means of the lymphocyte transformation technique, and on the humoral level, by means of the microcomplement fixation assay. In the human disease myasthenia gravis both acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction and the thymus are affected, probably by an autoimmune mechanism. The immunological cross-reaction between acetylcholine receptor and thymic components may explain the association between endplate and thymus disorders in myasthenia gravis.