Dynamizing nuclear actin filaments

Nuclear Actin: A Lack of Export Allows Formation of Filaments

Actin has been found in nuclei of many cell types, but little is known about its form and function. A recent study has shown that a lack of specific export allows actin to accumulate in the nucleus, where it forms a network of actin filaments that may be required to stabilize the giant nucleus of the Xenopus oocyte.

Actin Filaments

Persistent nuclear actin filaments inhibit transcription by RNA polymerase II.

Actin is abundant in the nucleus and it is clear that nuclear actin has important functions. However, mystery surrounds the absence of classical actin filaments in the nucleus. To address this question, we investigated how polymerizing nuclear actin into persistent nuclear actin filaments affected transcription by RNA polymerase II. Nuclear filaments impaired nuclear actin dynamics by polymeriz...

Small nuclear RNA-protein complex anchors on the actin filaments in bovine lymphocyte nuclear matrix.

When the nuclear matrix from bovine lymphocytes was digested by RNase-depleted trypsin, the bulk of the matrix proteins, except actin, were hydrolyzed. The digestion left rapidly sedimented spherical structures (trypsin-treated nuclear matrix), which mainly were composed of actin (Nakayasu, H. and K. Ueda. Exp. Cell Res. 143, 55-62, 1983). Almost all the small nuclear RNAs of the original nucle...

Dynamic stabilization of actin filaments.

We report here that actin filaments in vitro exist in two populations with significantly different shrinkage rates. Newly polymerized filaments shrink rapidly, primarily from barbed ends, at 1.8/s, but as they age they switch to a stable state that shrinks slowly, primarily from pointed ends, at approximately 0.1/s. This dynamic filament stabilization runs opposite to the classical prediction t...