Structure and gating of the nuclear pore complex
#MMPMID26112706
Eibauer M
; Pellanda M
; Turgay Y
; Dubrovsky A
; Wild A
; Medalia O
Nat Commun
2015[Jun]; 6
(?): 7532
PMID26112706
show ga
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) perforate the nuclear envelope and allow the
exchange of macromolecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. To acquire a
deeper understanding of this transport mechanism, we analyse the structure of the
NPC scaffold and permeability barrier, by reconstructing the Xenopus laevis
oocyte NPC from native nuclear envelopes up to 20?Å resolution by cryo-electron
tomography in conjunction with subtomogram averaging. In addition to resolving
individual protein domains of the NPC constituents, we propose a model for the
architecture of the molecular gate at its central channel. Furthermore, we
compare and contrast this native NPC structure to one that exhibits reduced
transport activity and unveil the spatial properties of the NPC gate.