Chapter 11 Establishing a Stable Expression System for Studies of Acetylcholine Receptors

Split tolerance in a novel transgenic model of autoimmune myasthenia gravis

Because it is one of the few autoimmune disorders in which the target autoantigen has been definitively identified, myasthenia gravis (MG) provides a unique opportunity for testing basic concepts of immune tolerance. In most MG patients, Abs against the acetylcholine receptors (AChR) at the neuromuscular junction can be readily identified and have been directly shown to cause muscle weakness. T cells have also been implicated and appear to play a role in regulating the pathogenic B cells. A murine MG model, generated by immunizing mice with heterologous AChR from the electric fish Torpedo californica, has been used extensively. In these animals, Abs cross-react with murine AChR; however, the T cells do not. Thus, to study tolerance to AChR, a transgenic mouse model was generated in which the immunodominant Torpedo AChR (T-AChR) alpha subunit is expressed in appropriate tissues. Upon immunization, these mice showed greatly reduced T cell responses to T-AChR and the immunodominant alpha-chain peptide. Limiting dilution assays suggest the likely mechanism of tolerance is deletion or anergy. Despite this tolerance, immunization with intact T-AChR induced anti-AChR Abs, including Abs against the alpha subunit, and the incidence of MG-like symptoms was similar to that of wild-type animals. Furthermore, evidence suggests that this B cell response to the alpha-chain receives help from T cells directed against the other AChR polypeptides (beta, gamma, or delta). This model offers a novel opportunity to elucidate mechanisms of tolerance regulation to muscle AChR and to clarify the role of T cells in MG.

Genetic reconstitution of functional acetylcholine receptor channels in mouse fibroblasts

Foreign genes can be stably integrated into the genome of a cell by means of DNA-mediated gene transfer techniques, and large quantities of homogenous cells that continuously express these gene products can then be isolated. Such an expression system can be used to study the functional consequences of introducing specific mutations into genes and to study the expressed protein in the absence of cellular components with which it is normally in contact. All four Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunit complementary DNA's were introduced into the genome of a mouse fibroblast cell by DNA-mediated gene transfer. A clonal cell line that stably produced high concentrations of correctly assembled cell surface AChR's and formed proper ligand-gated ion channels was isolated. With this new expression system, recombinant DNA, biochemical, pharmacological, and electrophysiological techniques were combined to study Torpedo AChR's in a single intact system. The physiological and pharmacological profiles of Torpedo AChR's expressed in mouse fibroblast cells differ in some details from those described earlier, and may provide a more accurate reflection of the properties of this receptor in its natural environment.