A heatmap analysis of our molecular data indicated that muscle autoantigen genes, including CHRNA1 and RYR1, form, along with AIRE, a cluster of genes that are down-regulated in MG versus control thymuses, whereas genes encoding muscle-like autoantigens, including NEFM, RYR3, and HSP60, cluster together in a separate pattern of genes that are up-regulated in MG versus non-MG thymomas. Here, CHRNA1 is linked to thymoma.