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Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) occur in sera of patients with various connective tissue disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), scleroderma, polymyositis and Sjögren’s syndrome. These ANA are directed to nuclear antigens, including DNA, nucleohistone and various extractable nuclear antigens (ENA) such as RNP, Sm, SS-A (Ro), SS-B (La), Scl-70 and Jo-11-9. These antigens are macromolecular complexes of protein and RNA. ENA are soluble ribonucleoprotein (snurps) complexes. Anti-Sm antibodies are disease specific and a marker for SLE. Antibodies
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