Acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit and myogenin mRNAs in thymus and thymomas.

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder characterized in most cases by serological antibody against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR). Evidence for intrathymic localization of AChR suggests that the thymus has an important role in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Using reverse transcription followed by the polymerase chain reaction, we have demonstrated AChR alpha-subunit mRNA in thymuses and thymomas from patients with and without myasthenia gravis. We have also studied the expression of myogenin which is known to be involved in the regulation of AChR expression. By using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, we found myogenin mRNAs in all of the thymuses and thymomas. Thus, both AChR alpha-subunit and myogenin mRNA are present in all of these specimens. By immunohistochemistry myoid cells (desmin and myoglobin positive) were present in all (four of four) thymuses studied and in two of five thymomas. Thus, in thymomas, nonmyoid cells might express both AChR and myogenin. These results indicate that cells within the thymus and thymoma express AChR and its regulatory protein myogenin and that such cells, under certain conditions, might play a role in the triggering of myasthenia gravis.