Structure–function mapping of a heptameric module in the nuclear pore complex
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Javier Fernandez-Martinez
PROVIDER: S-JCBD-201109008 | bioimages |
REPOSITORIES: bioimages
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Project description:The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a multiprotein assembly that serves as the sole mediator of nucleocytoplasmic exchange in eukaryotic cells. In this paper, we use an integrative approach to determine the structure of an essential component of the yeast NPC, the ~600-kD heptameric Nup84 complex, to a precision of ~1.5 nm. The configuration of the subunit structures was determined by satisfaction of spatial restraints derived from a diverse set of negative-stain electron microscopy and protein domain-mapping data. Phenotypic data were mapped onto the complex, allowing us to identify regions that stabilize the NPC's interaction with the nuclear envelope membrane and connect the complex to the rest of the NPC. Our data allow us to suggest how the Nup84 complex is assembled into the NPC and propose a scenario for the evolution of the Nup84 complex through a series of gene duplication and loss events. This work demonstrates that integrative approaches based on low-resolution data of sufficient quality can generate functionally informative structures at intermediate resolution.
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Project description:Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are indispensable for cell function and are at the center of several human diseases. NPCs provide access to the nucleus and regulate the transport of proteins and RNA across the nuclear envelope. They are aqueous channels generated from a complex network of evolutionarily conserved proteins known as nucleporins. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we discuss how transport between the nucleoplasm and the cytoplasm is regulated, what we currently know about the structure of individual nucleoporins and the assembled NPC, and how the cell regulates assembly and disassembly of such a massive structure. Our aim is to provide a general overview on what we currently know about the nuclear pore and point out directions of research this area is heading to.
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Project description:The transport of cargo across the nuclear membrane is highly selective and accomplished by a poorly understood mechanism involving hundreds of nucleoporins lining the inside of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Currently, there is no clear picture of the overall structure formed by this collection of proteins within the pore, primarily due to their disordered nature. We perform coarse-grained simulations of both individual nucleoporins and grafted rings of nups mimicking the in vivo geometry of the NPC and supplement this with polymer brush modeling. Our results indicate that different regions or blocks of an individual NPC protein can have distinctly different forms of disorder and that this property appears to be a conserved functional feature. Furthermore, this block structure at the individual protein level is critical to the formation of a unique higher-order polymer brush architecture that can exist in distinct morphologies depending on the effective interaction energy between the phenylalanine glycine (FG) domains of different nups. Because the interactions between FG domains may be modulated by certain forms of transport factors, our results indicate that transitions between brush morphologies could play an important role in regulating transport across the NPC, suggesting novel forms of gated transport across membrane pores with wide biomimetic applicability.
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Project description:The last steps in mRNA export and remodeling are performed by the Nup82 complex, a large conserved assembly at the cytoplasmic face of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). By integrating diverse structural data, we have determined the molecular architecture of the native Nup82 complex at subnanometer precision. The complex consists of two compositionally identical multiprotein subunits that adopt different configurations. The Nup82 complex fits into the NPC through the outer ring Nup84 complex. Our map shows that this entire 14-MDa Nup82-Nup84 complex assembly positions the cytoplasmic mRNA export factor docking sites and messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) remodeling machinery right over the NPC's central channel rather than on distal cytoplasmic filaments, as previously supposed. We suggest that this configuration efficiently captures and remodels exporting mRNP particles immediately upon reaching the cytoplasmic side of the NPC.
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Project description:The spatial separation between the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus necessitates the continuous exchange of macromolecular cargo across the double-membraned nuclear envelope. Being the only passageway in and out of the nucleus, the nuclear pore complex (NPC) has the principal function of regulating the high throughput of nucleocytoplasmic transport in a highly selective manner so as to maintain cellular order and function. Here, we present a retrospective review of the evidence that has led to the current understanding of both NPC structure and function. Looking towards the future, we contemplate on how various outstanding effects and nanoscopic characteristics ought to be addressed, with the goal of reconciling structure and function into a single unified picture of the NPC.
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Project description:The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the sole passageway for the transport of macromolecules across the nuclear envelope. Nup133, a major component in the essential Y-shaped Nup84 complex, is a large scaffold protein of the NPC's outer ring structure. Here, we describe an integrative modeling approach that produces atomic models for multiple states of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) Nup133, based on the crystal structures of the sequence segments and their homologs, including the related Vanderwaltozyma polyspora (Vp) Nup133 residues 55 to 502 (VpNup133(55-502)) determined in this study, small angle X-ray scattering profiles for 18 constructs of ScNup133 and one construct of VpNup133, and 23 negative-stain electron microscopy class averages of ScNup133(2-1157). Using our integrative approach, we then computed a multi-state structural model of the full-length ScNup133 and validated it with mutational studies and 45 chemical cross-links determined via mass spectrometry. Finally, the model of ScNup133 allowed us to annotate a potential ArfGAP1 lipid packing sensor (ALPS) motif in Sc and VpNup133 and discuss its potential significance in the context of the whole NPC; we suggest that ALPS motifs are scattered throughout the NPC's scaffold in all eukaryotes and play a major role in the assembly and membrane anchoring of the NPC in the nuclear envelope. Our results are consistent with a common evolutionary origin of Nup133 with membrane coating complexes (the protocoatomer hypothesis); the presence of the ALPS motifs in coatomer-like nucleoporins suggests an ancestral mechanism for membrane recognition present in early membrane coating complexes.
| S-EPMC4223481 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the principal gateway for molecular exchange between nucleus and cytoplasm across the nuclear envelope. Due to its sheer size of estimated 50-112MDa and its complex buildup from about 500-1000 individual proteins, it is a difficult object to study for structural biologists. Here, I review the extensive ensemble of high-resolution structures of the building blocks of the NPC. Concurrent with the increase in size and complexity, these latest, large structures and assemblies can now be used as the basis for hybrid approaches, primarily in combination with cryo-electron microscopic analysis, generating the first structure-based assembly models of the NPC. Going forward, the structures will be critically important for a detailed analysis of the NPC, including function, evolution, and assembly.
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Project description: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.
| S-EPMC4491817 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The nuclear pore complex, composed of proteins termed nucleoporins (Nups), is responsible for nucleocytoplasmic transport in eukaryotes. Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) form an annular structure composed of the nuclear ring, cytoplasmic ring, a membrane ring, and two inner rings. Nup192 is a major component of the NPC's inner ring. We report the crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nup192 residues 2-960 [ScNup192(2-960)], which adopts an ?-helical fold with three domains (i.e., D1, D2, and D3). Small angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopy (EM) studies reveal that ScNup192(2-960) could undergo long-range transition between "open" and "closed" conformations. We obtained a structural model of full-length ScNup192 based on EM, the structure of ScNup192(2-960), and homology modeling. Evolutionary analyses using the ScNup192(2-960) structure suggest that NPCs and vesicle-coating complexes are descended from a common membrane-coating ancestral complex. We show that suppression of Nup192 expression leads to compromised nuclear transport and hypothesize a role for Nup192 in modulating the permeability of the NPC central channel.
| S-EPMC3755625 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Nucleocytoplasmic transport is sustained by karyopherins (Kaps) and a Ran guanosine triphosphate (RanGTP) gradient that imports nuclear localization signal (NLS)-specific cargoes (NLS-cargoes) into the nucleus. However, how nuclear pore complex (NPC) barrier selectivity, Kap traffic, and NLS-cargo release are systematically linked and simultaneously regulated remains incoherent. In this study, we show that Kap? facilitates Kap?1 turnover and occupancy at the NPC in a RanGTP-dependent manner that is directly coupled to NLS-cargo release and NPC barrier function. This is underpinned by the binding affinity of Kap?1 to phenylalanine-glycine nucleoporins (FG Nups), which is comparable with RanGTP·Kap?1, but stronger for Kap?·Kap?1. On this basis, RanGTP is ineffective at releasing standalone Kap?1 from NPCs. Depleting Kap?·Kap?1 by RanGTP further abrogates NPC barrier function, whereas adding back Kap?1 rescues it while Kap?1 turnover softens it. Therefore, the FG Nups are necessary but insufficient for NPC barrier function. We conclude that Kaps constitute integral constituents of the NPC whose barrier, transport, and cargo release functionalities establish a continuum under a mechanism of Kap-centric control.
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