Sharing of Antigenic Determinants between the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor and Proteins in Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, and Klebsiella pneumoniae: Possible Role in the Pathogenesis of Myasthenia Gravis

THE causes of autoimmune diseases in human beings are in most instances unknown. There are, however, countless hypotheses about what may be responsible for an immunologic attack on autoantigens during autoimmune processes. Some of these hypotheses involve infectious agents. One popular notion is that many autoimmune diseases may be caused directly or indirectly by viral infections.^1,2 Viruses may launch autoimmune processes by altering the host's immune system, by causing the release or expression of sequestered antigens, or through antigenic determinants shared by the virus and the host cells. There is now considerable published evidence that antigenic determinants are shared by.