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. 2014 Dec 1;9(12):e110571. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110571

Figure 1. Immunized mice produce MuSK antibodies and have reduced skeletal muscle function.

Figure 1

(A) Dot blot analysis detects anti-MuSK antibodies in serum of 4 MuSK-injected (M1-M4), but not vehicle-injected control (C1-C4) mice. Sera were tested against 1∶10, 1∶100, and 1∶1000 dilutions of purified MuSK. (B) Representative images of mice after 3 injections with vehicle (Control) or MuSK. Approximately 20% of MuSK-immunized mice develop kyphosis (arrow) due to weakness of back and neck muscles. Average time on rod rotating at 20 rpm for mice 0–3 days before and at various days after MuSK injections. Dotted lines a, b, and c indicate the times of MuSK injections and data points are shown as the mean + SEM for 6 to 12 mice. (D) Summary of walk time on the rotating rod for 12 vehicle-injected controls and 6 mice injected 3 times with MuSK. (E) Forelimb grip strength normalized to the body mass of 8 controls and 10 MuSK-injected mice. (F) Representative head-out plethysmography records of mice injected thrice with either vehicle (Control) or MuSK. Calibrations: time, 500 mSec, y-axis arbitrary units. (G, H) Respiration rates for 11 controls and 8 MuSK-injected mice, in breaths per second (G) or area under curve of each breathing cycle (H). Representative twitch (2 Hz) (H) and tetanic (J) responses of phrenic-nerve diaphragm muscle preparations from control (black trace) and MuSK-MG-affected (grey trace) mice. All data bars are shown as the mean + SEM; *** denotes P<0.0001, * denotes P<0.05.