Electron spin resonance studies of erythrocytes from patients with myotonic muscular dystrophy.

Electron magnetic resonance experiments have demonstrated that spin-labeled myotonic erythrocyte membranes have spectra that are recognizably different from those of normal erythrocytes. The spin label incorporated in the erythrocyte membranes of patients having myotonic muscular dystrophy is apparently located in a less polar and somewhat more fluid region than the label in a normal membrane. Although the mechanisms of molecular interaction and their relationship to enzymatic differences is unclear, the results lend confirmation to the suggestion that myotonic muscular dystrophy may be a disease resulting from a basic membrane abnormality.