We describe the crystal structure of a complex between importin-beta residues 1-442 (Ib442) and five FxFG nucleoporin repeats from Nsp1p. Nucleoporin FxFG cores bind on the convex face of Ib442 to a primary site between the A helices of HEAT repeats 5 and 6, and to a secondary site between HEAT repeats 6 and 7. Mutations at importin-beta Ile178 in the primary FxFG binding site reduce both bindi...

The structure of solenoid proteins facilitates a higher degree of flexibility than most folded proteins. In importin-β, a nuclear import factor built from 19 tandem HEAT repeats, flexibility plays a crucial role in allowing interactions with a range of different partners. We present a comprehensive analysis of importin-β flexibility based on a number of different approaches. We determined the c...

HIV-1 Vpr promotes nuclear entry of viral nucleic acids in nondividing macrophages and also causes a G2 cell-cycle arrest. Consistent with its role in nuclear transport, we show Vpr localizes to the nuclear envelope in both human and yeast cells. Like the importin-beta subunit of the nuclear import receptor, Vpr also interacts with the yeast importin-alpha subunit and nucleoporins. Moreover, ov...

Xeroderma pigmentosum Group A (XPA) is a crucial factor in mammalian nucleotide excision repair (NER) and nuclear import of XPA from the cytoplasm for NER is regulated in cellular DNA damage responses in S-phase. In this study, experiments were carried out to determine the transport mechanisms that are responsible for the UV (ultraviolet)-induced nuclear import of XPA. We found that, in additio...

A non-classical nuclear localization signal (ncNLS) of influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP) is critical for nuclear import of viral genomic RNAs that transcribe and replicate in the nucleus of infected cells. Here we report a 2.3 Å resolution crystal structure of mouse importin-α1 in complex with NP ncNLS. The structure reveals that NP ncNLS binds specifically and exclusively to the minor NLS-b...

Peripheral sensory neurons respond to axon injury by activating an importin-dependent retrograde signaling mechanism. How is this mechanism regulated? Here, we show that Ran GTPase and its associated effectors RanBP1 and RanGAP regulate the formation of importin signaling complexes in injured axons. A gradient of nuclear RanGTP versus cytoplasmic RanGDP is thought to be fundamental for the orga...

The Crumbs family of apical transmembrane proteins regulates apicobasal polarity via protein interactions with a conserved C-terminal sequence, ERLI. However, one of the mammalian Crumbs proteins, Crumbs3 (CRB3) has an alternate splice form with a novel C-terminal sequence ending in CLPI (CRB3-CLPI). We report that CRB3-CLPI localizes to the cilia membrane and a membrane compartment at the mito...

Nuclear import of proteins containing classical nuclear localization signals (NLS) is mediated by the importin-alpha:beta complex that binds cargo in the cytoplasm and facilitates its passage through nuclear pores, after which nuclear RanGTP dissociates the import complex and the importins are recycled. In vertebrates, import is stimulated by nucleoporin Nup50, which has been proposed to accomp...

Subcellular localization of mRNA enables compartmentalized regulation within large cells. Neurons are the longest known cells; however, so far, evidence is lacking for an essential role of endogenous mRNA localization in axons. Localized upregulation of Importin β1 in lesioned axons coordinates a retrograde injury-signaling complex transported to the neuronal cell body. Here we show that a long...

PEGylated sequence-controlled macromolecules using supramolecular binding motifs effectively disrupt Taspase1 interaction with Importin α in a concentration-dependent manner, thereby exploiting novel inhibition mechanism for this protease.