T-cell recognition of acetylcholine receptor provides a reliable means for monitoring autoimmunity to acetylcholine receptor in antibody-negative myasthenia gravis patients

Autoimmunity. 2012 Mar;45(2):153-60. doi: 10.3109/08916934.2011.611550. Epub 2011 Oct 10.

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease usually associated with autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR). Some MG patients appear negative for anti-AChR Abs (seronegative), and a fraction of these have auto-Abs against muscle-specific kinase. The remaining patients, although displaying MG symptoms, show no detectable auto-Abs. We describe here a possible association of a rare human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ type and AChR Ab-negative MG. We also found that the majority of seronegative patients exhibit an anti-AChR autoimmune T lymphocyte response. We investigated the existence of AChR-reactive T cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes from seronegative patients by their proliferative responses against a mixture of 18 overlapping synthetic peptides encompassing the extracellular part of human AChR α-chain. Of the 10 samples, eight exhibited positive T-cell proliferative responses against the peptide mixtures. The proliferative assay was equally efficient using a mixture of eight peptides frequently recognized by MG T cells. This T-cell proliferative assay should provide a reliable method for monitoring seronegative MG patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Autoantibodies / blood
  • Autoantibodies / immunology*
  • Autoimmunity / immunology*
  • Female
  • Genotype
  • HLA-DQ Antigens / genetics
  • Histocompatibility Testing
  • Humans
  • Lymphocyte Activation / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Myasthenia Gravis / diagnosis
  • Myasthenia Gravis / genetics
  • Myasthenia Gravis / immunology*
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / immunology
  • Receptors, Cholinergic / chemistry
  • Receptors, Cholinergic / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Autoantibodies
  • HLA-DQ Antigens
  • Peptides
  • Receptors, Cholinergic