Acetylcholine receptor epitope in proteins of myasthenia gravis-associated thymomas and non-thymic tissues.

In this investigation we charaterize a thymoma-derived protein (p153). Its occurrence is significantly correlated with the development of MG, and it exhibits antigenic cross-reactivity with the AChR α-subunit. We found that in almost all respects p153 differs from the AChR except for the IEP [14] and the mAb155-binding site. Nevertheless we consider p153 a candidate protein to participate in the pathogenesis of MG