Immunological evidence for a change in subunits of the acetylcholine receptor in developing and denervated rat muscle.

We used specific antibodies to gamma, delta, and epsilon subunits to characterize acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in extracts and at endplates of developing, adult, and denervated rat muscle. The AChRs in normal adult muscle were immunoprecipitated by anti-epsilon and anti-delta, but not by anti-gamma antibodies, whereas AChRs in denervated and embryonic muscles were precipitated by anti-gamma and anti-delta, but showed little or no reactivity to anti-epsilon antibodies. In immunofluorescence experiments, AChRs at neonatal endplates bound antibodies to gamma or delta, but not epsilon, subunit, whereas those in adult muscles bound antibodies to epsilon or delta, but not gamma, subunit. AChRs at denervated endplates and at developing endplates between postnatal days 9 and 16 bound all three antibodies. We conclude that the distribution of gamma and epsilon subunits of the AChR parallels the distribution of AChRs with embryonic and adult channel properties, respectively.