Physiologists discover a new disease affecting neuromusculartransmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). They have calledthe condition PLT disease and it causes weakness and increasingfatigue in skeletal muscles, due to the production of antibodiesthat target membrane-bound receptors of skeletal muscle cells.
Using your knowledge of neurophysiology (M1) and the muscularsystem (M4), please answer the following questions below. Be sureto clearly label the different parts.
PART A How will the antibodies produced in PLTdisease affect neuromuscular transmission? Identify the specificreceptors on the skeletal muscle cells that will be targeted bythese antibodies and the neurotransmitters involved.
PART B The physiologists decide to treat PLTdisease with a class of drug that enhances cholinergic transmissionat the neuromuscular junction (NMJ).
Explain why enhancing cholinergic transmission at the NMJ is asuitable treatment for PLT disease which causes skeletal muscleweakness.
Your extended response should include: a detailed explanation ofthe events involved in cholinergic transmission, the role ofcholinesterase in normal NMJ physiology, the specific action ofanticholinesterases on cholinesterase, and how anticholinesteraseswill affect skeletal muscular contraction.
