[Receptor diseases in the field of neurology]

Based on the gene-related function and molecular structure of various receptors, neurological receptor diseases were reviewed from both the immunologic and genetic perspectives. The nicotinic acetyl-choline receptor (AChR), ryanodine receptor (RyR), omega-conotoxin receptor (P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel), dihydropyridine receptor (L-type voltage gated calcium channel), and androgen receptor have been found to be affected by autoantibodies and/or genetic anomalies. They reflect on various neurological diseases such as myasthenia gravis, congenital myasthenic syndrome, malignant hyperthermia and central core disease, paraneoplastic myasthenic syndrome, hereditary migraine and ataxias, hypokalemic periodic paralysis, and bulbospinal muscular atrophy. The interaction of calcitonin gene-related peptide with its receptor tends to compensate the dysfunction caused by antibodies to AChR and RyR. One should look for cancers or genetic disorders in the case of the receptor disease implicated in calcium channel function. Recent advances in search for the etiology of these diseases from the standpoints of immunology and genetics have opened an avenue in understanding the functional structure of receptors and the molecular sites responsible for receptor diseases.