Membrane channel protein abnormalities and autoantibodies in neurological disease

Immunological analogues of band 3, the anion transporter of the human erythrocyte, have been identified in all cells, including both isolated neurons and neurons of the central nervous system. We hypothesized that the anion channel is altered in neurological disease associated with choreiform movements because gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in mammalian brain, binds to its receptor and opens an integral membrane chloride channel. In order to examine this hypothesis, we studied a family with a serious, progressive, genetic neurologic disorder with acanthocytosis (choreoacanthocytosis) that resembles Huntington's chorea. We selected choreoacanthocytosis because erythrocytes, which are readily obtained, are affected in this disease as well as the central nervous system. Biochemical studies of erythrocytes from the proposita, mother, and brother revealed that sulfate transport Vmax was increased, and glucose efflux was decreased. Erythrocytes exhibited immunological changes indicative of cellular aging/transporter damage. In addition, transporter reactive antibodies were present. This is the first evidence for abnormalities of membrane transport in this neurologic disorder.