The effects of (a) oxidative cross-linking of protein thiol groups and (b) the presence or absence of Ca2+ ions on rat liver nuclear-envelope isolation were studied. Two envelope-isolation procedures were compared: a well characterized low-ionic-strength method and a recently developed high-ionic-strength method. The latter method seems preferable to the former in respect of lower intranuclear contamination of the envelopes, suppression of endogenous serine proteinase, and maintenance of high specific activities of envelope-associated enzymes. In both procedures, however, the presence of Ca2+ gave rise to a rapid, apparently irreversible, contamination of the envelopes by intranuclear material. This effect was half-maximal at 20 microM-Ca2+. In addition, the envelopes became contaminated with intranuclear material by a Ca2+-independent mechanism, apparently resulting from N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive intermolecular disulphide-bond formation. This oxidative process seemed to have two major kinetic components (half-life, t1/2, approx. 2 min and 10 min). In view of these findings, it is recommended that (i) for most purposes, nuclear envelopes be isolated by the newly developed high-ionic-strength procedure, (ii) irrespective of the method used, Ca2+-chelators be included in all the buffers, (iii) thiol-group oxidation be prevented or reversed during the procedure.