Biomechanics of the transport barrier in the nuclear pore complex

Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology
George J StanleyBart W Hoogenboom

Abstract

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the selective gateway through which all molecules must pass when entering or exiting the nucleus. It is a cog in the gene expression pathway, an entrance to the nucleus exploited by viruses, and a highly-tuned nanoscale filter. The NPC is a large proteinaceous assembly with a central lumen occluded by natively disordered proteins, known as FG-nucleoporins (or FG-nups). These FG-nups, along with a family of soluble proteins known as nuclear transport receptors (NTRs), form the selective transport barrier. Although much is known about the transport cycle and the necessity of NTRs for chaperoning cargo molecules through the NPC, the mechanism by which NTRs and NTR•cargo complexes translocate the selective transport barrier is not well understood. How can disordered FG-nups and soluble NTRs form a transport barrier that is selective, ATP-free, and fast? In this work, we review various mechanical approaches - both experimental and theoretical/computational - employed to better understand the morphology of the FG-nups, and their role in nucleocytoplasmic transport. Recent experiments on FG-nups tethered to planar surfaces, coupled with quantitative modelling work suggests that FG-nup morphologies are...Continue Reading

References

Jul 16, 2010·Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology·Susan R Wente, Michael P Rout

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Citations

Nov 21, 2018·Life Science Alliance·George J StanleyBart W Hoogenboom
Mar 15, 2018·Nature·Seung Joong KimMichael P Rout
Mar 15, 2020·Physical Review. E·Luke K DavisBart W Hoogenboom
Feb 6, 2021·Soft Matter·Yamila A Perez SirkinIgal Szleifer
Feb 23, 2021·Biophysical Journal·Luke K DavisAnton Zilman
Apr 29, 2021·The Journal of Cell Biology·Tae Yeon Yoo, Timothy J Mitchison
Aug 3, 2021·Biophysical Journal·Atsushi Matsuda, Mohammad R K Mofrad
Aug 28, 2021·Cells·Richard W Wong

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