[Electron microscopic characteristics and polypeptide composition of the nuclear matrix of liver cells in mice with...

A study was made of the ultrastructure and polypeptide composition of liver cell nuclear matrix of F1NZB/NZW hybrid mice imitating human systemic Lupus erythematosus. Electron microscopy reveals enlargement in fibrous lamina diameter and increase in pore complex density up to the age of 8-9 months. In the terminal stages of the disease (12-13 months of age) a gradual attenuation of the intranuclear matrix and disappearance of pore complexes is observed along with a segregation and subsequent fragmentation of residual nucleoli which results eventually in the general degradation of the nuclear matrix. 30-35 polypeptide bands with molecular weight from 200 to 10 kD are revealed in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the liver cell nuclear matrix of hybrid mice. Several protein bands in the high molecular weight region of 200-150 kD are strongly enhanced, and a triplet with molecular weight 70-60 kD is distinctly visible. The results obtained are interpreted as an indication of a protecting cellular reaction against antinuclear autoantibodies in the earlier stages, and a degradation of the nuclear matrix in terminal stages of the disease. It is supposed that the electron microscopic and electrophoretic patterns of the nuclear matrix indicate an accumulation of collagenous proteins.