Nuclear pore complexes as hubs for gene regulation

Nuclear pore complexes

What do they look like? A picture is worth twice the length of this article (Figure 1). All eukaryotes have these impressive structures: vertebrates have the Cadillac model (~125 MDa) and yeast a sportier version (~50 MDa). In spite of their immense size, these structures are made of a relatively small number of proteins — about 30 — the so-called nucleoporins or nups. Defining an NPC ‘interact...

Regulation of mRNA Trafficking by Nuclear Pore Complexes

Over the last two decades, multiple studies have explored the mechanisms governing mRNA export out of the nucleus, a crucial step in eukaryotic gene expression. During transcription and processing, mRNAs are assembled into messenger ribonucleoparticles (mRNPs). mRNPs are then exported through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), which are large multiprotein assemblies made of several copies of a limi...

Pore relations: nuclear pore complexes and nucleocytoplasmic exchange.

NPCs are the sole sites of exchange between the nucleus and cytoplasm. A large family of transport factors carry cargo between the nucleus and cytoplasm through the NPC. The NPC is a huge symmetric octagonal structure comprised of dozens of NUPs. NUPs make many contacts with surrounding structures, including the NE, the cytoplasm and nuclear interior. A subset of NUPs contain repeated peptide m...

1 Pore Relations : Nuclear Pore Complexes and Nucleocytoplasmic Exchange

Nuclear pore complexes: dynamics in unexpected places

In vivo studies on the dynamics of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) in yeast suggested that NPCs are highly mobile in the nuclear envelope. However, new evidence indicates that in mammalian cells NPCs are stably attached to a flexible lamina framework, but a peripheral component can exchange rapidly with an intranuclear pool.