McLachlan S M, Nicholson L V, Venables G, Mastalgia F L, Bates D, Smith B R, Hall R
J Clin Lab Immunol. 1981 May;5(3):137-42.
The synthesis of immunoglobulin and acetylcholine receptor antibody by lymphocytes extracted from the peripheral blood and thymus of patients with myasthenia gravis was investigated using the Marbrook culture system. Small amounts of immunoglobulin were synthesised by thymic lymphocytes cultured in medium without mitogen for 14 days and acetylcholine receptor antibody activity was detectable in cultures from 3 out of 5 patients with thymic hyperplasia. Addition of Pokeweed mitogen to the cultures increased both IgG and acetylcholine receptor antibody synthesis and under these conditions receptor antibody activity was detectable in all 5 thymic lymphocyte cultures studied. Peripheral blood lymphocytes also produced small amounts of IgG when cultured in the absence of mitogen but acetylcholine receptor antibody levels were undetectable. In the presence of Pokeweed mitogen, however, peripheral blood lymphocytes synthesised increased amounts of IgG and acetylcholine receptor antibody activity was detectable in cultures of lymphocytes from 3 out of 4 patients. The amount of acetylcholine receptor antibody per microgram IgG, the specific activity, was greater in cultures of thymic lymphocytes than the specific activity of IgG in serum, suggesting that the hyperplastic thymus may be a major site of acetylcholine receptor antibody synthesis. Therefore it should be possible to use the culture system described to investigate the processes involved in the breakdown of self-tolerance in myasthenia gravis.
采用马尔布鲁克培养系统，对从重症肌无力患者外周血和胸腺中提取的淋巴细胞合成免疫球蛋白和乙酰胆碱受体抗体的情况进行了研究。在无丝裂原的培养基中培养14天的胸腺淋巴细胞可合成少量免疫球蛋白，5例胸腺增生患者中有3例的培养物中可检测到乙酰胆碱受体抗体活性。向培养物中添加商陆丝裂原可增加IgG和乙酰胆碱受体抗体的合成，在这些条件下，在所研究的所有5例胸腺淋巴细胞培养物中均可检测到受体抗体活性。外周血淋巴细胞在无丝裂原培养时也产生少量IgG，但未检测到乙酰胆碱受体抗体水平。然而，在商陆丝裂原存在的情况下，外周血淋巴细胞合成的IgG量增加，4例患者中有3例淋巴细胞培养物中可检测到乙酰胆碱受体抗体活性。每微克IgG中乙酰胆碱受体抗体的量，即比活性，在胸腺淋巴细胞培养物中比血清中IgG的比活性更高，这表明增生的胸腺可能是乙酰胆碱受体抗体合成的主要部位。因此，利用所描述的培养系统有可能研究重症肌无力中自身耐受性破坏所涉及的过程。
