Immunization with plasmids encoding M2 acetylcholine muscarinic receptor epitopes impairs cardiac function in mice and induces autophagy in the myocardium.

Authors: Ribeiro KC, Campelo RP, Rodrigues DDRF, Mattos EC, Brandão IT, da Silva CL, Bouskela E, Martinez CG, Kurtenbach E Abstract Autoantibodies against the M2 subtype of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors with functional activities have been found in the sera of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and the second extracellular loop has been established as the predominant epitope. However, it has been shown that the third intracellular loop is recognized by Chagas disease patients with severe cardiac dysfunction. In this work, BALB/c mice were immunized with plasmids encoding these two epitopes, and a control group received the empty plasmid (pcDNA3 vector). Serum from these DNA-immunized animals had elevated and persistent titres of antibodies against respective antigens...

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