Towards antigen-specific apheresis of pathogenic autoantibodies as a further step in the treatment of myasthenia gravis by plasmapheresis

Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG), a prototypic antibody-mediated autoimmune disease, presents an excellent target for scientific research aimed at a better understanding of the disease itself and the source that triggers an autoimmune reaction in an organism. MG is a neuromuscular disease caused main...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of neuroimmunology 2008-09, Vol.201, p.95-103
Main Authors: Zisimopoulou, Paraskevi, Lagoumintzis, George, Kostelidou, Kalliopi, Bitzopoulou, Kalliopi, Kordas, Gregory, Trakas, Nikolaos, Poulas, Konstantinos, Tzartos, Socrates J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylcholine receptor autoantibodies
Allergy and Immunology
Animals
Antigens - immunology
Antigens - metabolism
Autoantibodies - blood
Autoantibodies - immunology
Extracellular domains
Humans
Immunoadsorption
Myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia Gravis - blood
Myasthenia Gravis - immunology
Myasthenia Gravis - therapy
Neurology
Plasmapheresis
Plasmapheresis - methods
Protein Subunits - immunology
Protein Subunits - metabolism
Receptors, Cholinergic - immunology
Therapy
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Summary:Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG), a prototypic antibody-mediated autoimmune disease, presents an excellent target for scientific research aimed at a better understanding of the disease itself and the source that triggers an autoimmune reaction in an organism. MG is a neuromuscular disease caused mainly by an autoimmune response against the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) which interferes with neuromuscular transmission. This review focuses on our studies on the extracellular domains of human muscle AChR subunits in an effort to develop an approach for the specific therapeutic apheresis of autoantibodies from patients' sera using the immobilized subunits as immunoadsorbents. The ability of the anti-AChR antibodies isolated by this technique, but not of the depleted sera, to induce disease is also described. This review is dedicated to the late Prof. John Newsom-Davis, who was the first to introduce the use of plasmapheresis for MG.
ISSN:0165-5728
1872-8421
DOI:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2008.06.020