Expression of cell adhesion molecule, N-CAM, in diseases of adult human skeletal muscle.

Antibody to the cell adhesion molecule N-CAM was used for analysis of cryostat sections using indirect immunofluorescence assay of human muscle biopsies from patients with a variety of muscle diseases. Positive staining was restricted to cases where haematoxylin and eosin staining revealed regenerating myofibers. N-CAM reactivity was specifically found associated with such regenerating fibres. No staining was found on normal adult, degenerating or necrotic fibres. In addition, in chronically denervated muscle disease there was no staining of either atrophic fibres or reinnervated fibres that tended to exist in fibre type specific groupings. N-CAM can therefore be regarded as a specific gene product of regenerating myofibres and is an additional marker of these fibres on biopsy of human muscle.