MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY OF AUTOANTIGENS IN RHEUMATIC DISEASES

The advent of molecular biologic techniques has provided new approache s that are of great utility to the study of autoimmune-mediated respon ses. In the past few years, there has been a remarkable accumulation o f knowledge concerning the molecular identity and function of autoanti gens, and further consolidation for the use of autoantibodies as diagn ostic markers in clinical rheumatology. The understanding of basis met hodologies in molecular biology applied to the study of autoantigens, in particular, techniques fur cloning and analyzing genes that are imp ortant in rheumatic diseases, is valuable for both basic scientists an d clinicians interested in diagnostic and prognostic markers of variou s connective tissue diseases.