Primary biliary cirrhosis and the molecular cell biology of the nuclear envelope.

I hope I have demonstrated how basic research on the molecular cell biology of the nuclear envelope has provided information about the autoimmune disease PBC. I have given several examples of how highly specific immunologic reagents, obtained from patients with this disease, have been of value in experiments on the basic cell biology of the nuclear envelope. Continued work should provide further clues on how autoimmunity underlies the pathophysiology of PBC and should also provide additional reagents to study the processes of nuclear protein targeting and cell division.