Autoantibodies against nuclear envelope proteins in liver disease

Abstract

The contents of the cell nucleus are separated from the cytoplasm by the nuclear envelope. The nuclear envelope is composed of the nuclear membranes, the nuclear pore complexes and the nuclear lamina. In recent years, cell biologists have characterized some of the protein components of these structures and have begun to understand their functions in nucleocyto-plasmic transport, chromatin organization and nuclear dynamics of cell division. Autoantibodies against major protein components of the nuclear envelope are found in patients with many liver disease. These findings suggest that certain antibody specificities may be characteristic of clinical syndromes and may be useful in classifying patients with these diseases. The demonstration of nuclear envelope proteins as antigens in liver diseases also raises the question of whether these proteins are involved in the pathophysiology of certain liver disorders. For these reasons, the nuclear envelope has become a cell structure of interest not only to basic cell biologists, but also to hepatologists. In this article, we review the cell biology of the nuclear envelope and its major protein components, the studies characterizing autoantibodies against nuclear envelope proteins and the potential roles of nuclear envelope proteins in the pathophysiology of liver diseases.