AUTOANTIBODIES TO NUCLEOSOMES AND HISTONE - DNA COMPLEXES

Individuals with systemic autoimmune diseases develop autoantibodies t o nucleosome antigens. For many years, investigators have devoted much effort to precisely mapping epitopes on individual chromatin componen ts. This approach, however, overlooks the existence of determinants th at result from multimolecular interactions among nucleosome elements, such as DNA and histones. Anti-nucleosome antibodies can recognize a v ariety of complex epitopes and are especially prevalent in spontaneous and drug-induced lupus. Using numerous monoclonal anti-nucleosome ant ibodies obtained from autoimmune mice, we have further characterized t hese determinants and sequenced the variable region genes of these aut oantibodies. I herein review these studies and their implications for the origin of antinuclear autoantibodies. (C) 1997 Academic Press, Inc .