Assays for myasthenia gravis
AssigneeThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies
InventorJon M. Lindstrom
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Abstract
Improved assays are provided for anti-acetylcholine receptor protein autoantibodies in the sera of patients with myasthenia gravis. The basis for the improved assays is the discovery that large quantities of acetylcholine receptor protein, that, for practical purposes in immunoassays, is immunologically indistinguishable from human muscle acetylcholine receptor protein, can be isolated from cells of the human medullablastoma-derived cell line TE671.
Claims5
In a process for diagnosing myasthenia gravis which comprises the steps of preparing a complex of acetycholine receptor protein, toxin and a radioactive isotope, incubating said complex with a serum sample from a patient so as to join antibodies engendered in connection with myasthenia gravis to said complex, precipitating said complex joined with antibody with anti-immunoglobulin and measuring radioactivity, from said radioactive isotope, of the precipitated complex, the improvement wherein the acetylcholine receptor protein is derived from cells of the TE671 Line.
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