Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Measuring Neuromuscular Junction Functionality
Published on: August 6, 2017
Autoantibody Testing in Neuromuscular Disorders, Part II: Neuromuscular Junction, Hyperexcitability, and Muscle
H J Kaminski1, C Santillan, G I Wolfe
1From *Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University Hospital of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio; and daggerDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical school Dallas, Texas.
Abstract:
In myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, antibodies against ion channels are clearly related to pathogenesis; however, in the inflammatory myopathies, a link to disease causation is not as evident, except as a marker of autoimmunity. Autoantibody testing in patients with neuromuscular junction and skeletal muscle disorders is useful in diagnosis and, in some diseases, prognosis. This review briefly summarizes methods of autoantibody testing and then proceeds to a clinician-friendly guide to autoantibody testing of neuromuscular junction disorders, hyperexcitability syndromes, and inflammatory muscle diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Myasthenia Gravis: Diagnostic Tests
The edrophonium test is a diagnostic tool for myasthenia gravis. It involves...
Myasthenia Gravis ll: Pathophysiology
Myasthenia Gravis: Overview and Treatment
These antibodies interfere with the function of the nicotinic receptors in three ways: by binding to the receptor and disrupting acetylcholine binding; by causing cross-linking of receptors which leads...
Neuromuscular Junction And Blockade
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...