Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kv1.4

Title: Novel autoantibodies to a voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.4 in a severe form of myasthenia gravis.

Authors: Shigeaki Suzuki, Takashi Satoh, Hidekata Yasuoka, Yasuhito Hamaguchi, Kortaro Tanaka, Yutaka Kawakami, Norihiro Suzuki, Masataka Kuwana

Journal, date & volume: J. Neuroimmunol., 2005 Dec 30 , 170, 141-9

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16182377

Abstract
Sera from patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were screened for autoantibodies to skeletal muscle-specific antigens by immunoprecipitation assay, using rhabdomyosarcoma and leukemia cell lines. Eleven of 61 MG sera immunoprecipitated a rhabdomyosarcoma-specific 70-kDa protein, which was identified as the voltage-gated K+ channel 1.4 (Kv1.4). This antibody specificity was not detected in 30 patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis, 9 with thymoma alone, or 30 healthy controls. Clinical features associated with anti-Kv1.4 antibody included bulbar involvement, myasthenic crisis, thymoma, myocarditis, and QT prolongation on electrocardiogram. These findings suggest that anti-Kv1.4 antibody is a novel autoantibody associated with a severe MG subset and thymoma.