Kaminski H J, Kusner L L, Nash K V, Ruff R L
Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, OH 44106.
Neurology. 1995 Mar;45(3 Pt 1):516-8. doi: 10.1212/wnl.45.3.516.
In extraocular muscle (EOM), expression of the gamma-subunit, which is associated with the fetal-type acetylcholine receptor (AChR), may offer a differential target for immune-mediated damage and could explain the preponderance of ocular manifestations caused by myasthenia gravis (MG). Using Poly(A)+ RNA hybridization, we investigated expression of the gamma-subunit in bovine levator palpebrae superioris (LP), a muscle also differentially involved by MG. There were no transcripts of the gamma-subunit of the AChR, but the epsilon-subunit, associated with the adult-type AChR, was present. The results indicate that the susceptibility of LP to MG is not mediated by gamma-subunit expression and suggest that multiterminal fibers in EOM may be the site of gamma-subunit expression.
