Morphological changes observed in rats immunized with the Torpedo acetylcholine receptor alpha-chain.

Lewis rats were immunized with nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) polypeptides purified from the electric tissue of Torpedo marmorata. Animals immunized with the acetylcholine binding, 41.500 daltons, polypeptide showed comparable fragmentation of the postsynaptic membrane and indications of rearrangement of the adjacent muscle fiber as earlier found in rabbits and rats immunized with the nAChR complex. Thus, these results demonstrate that the alpha-polypeptide chain carries all determinants necessary for onset of Experimental Autoimmune Myasthenia Gravis (EAMG).