Western-blotting method for detecting antibodies against human muscle contractile proteins in myositis.

Many investigators report anti-muscle antibodies using various kinds of methods. The Western-blotting method, however, has not previously been used for this purpose. We have detected antibodies to muscle contractile proteins in sera from patients with collagen disease and muscular dystrophy by this method. The antigens detected included myosin heavy and light chains, tropomyosin and troponin complex. Our method is a quick and sensitive way to determine which are the antigenic muscle contractile proteins.