Myasthenic translocation of thymic cytoplasmic AChE-R to the membrane. (A) Immunoblot of individual thymus samples subjected to a single electrophoresis test. Photographs were cropped as marked by the vertical lines. Cytoplasmic AChE (P = .007) and AChE-R (P = .007) decreased in MG patients compared with healthy adults. Cytoplasmic AChE-R decreased in healthy adults compared with newborns (P ≤ .01). (B) Membrane-associated AChE (P = .09) and AChE-R (P ≤ .01) increase in the myasthenic thymus. Membrane-associated AChE-R decreases in healthy adults compared with newborns (P ≤ .02). (C) Real-time RT-PCR on thymus AChE mRNA from thymoma patients with MG wcompared with that of hyperplasia patients and healthy adults. The AChE-S variant was decreased in thymoma patients compared with hyperplasia (P ≤ .02) and healthy adults (P ≤ .012). AChE-R mRNA was increased in thymoma patients with MG compared with the common AChE (P = .06) and AChE-S (P ≤ .02). No changes were seen between the 2 variants in hyperplasia patients and healthy adults. Error bars show standard error of the mean (SEM). *P < .05.