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Membrane-coating lattice scaffolds in the nuclear pore and vesicle coats: commonalities, differences, challenges.

ABSTRACT: The nuclear pore complex (NPC) regulates all traffic between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. It is a large protein assembly composed of multiple copies of ?30 nucleoporins (nups). Structural studies of the NPC have been limited by its considerable size and complexity. Progress toward understanding the structure of this nanomachine has benefited from its modular nature, which allows for this 40-60 MDa assembly to be broken down into subcomplexes that can be studied individually. While recent work by both crystallographers and electron microscopists has greatly enhanced our model of the NPC, the resolution gap between crystal and EM structures remains too large to confidently place individual proteins within the context of the fully assembled NPC. In an effort to arrive at a veritable model of the NPC, we solved the structure of several scaffold nups and defined the ancestral coatomer element (ACE1) common to a set of nucleoporins and COPII vesicle coat proteins. Subsequently, we proposed a lattice-like model of the NPC, analogous to the COPII lattice, in which ACE1 proteins form the edge elements and ?-propellers form the vertex elements. Here, we review our recent studies, speculate on how interactions between subcomplexes of the NPC are mediated, and outline the steps and challenges that lay ahead on the path to understanding this enormous assembly in molecular detail.

SUBMITTER: Leksa NC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3027038 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Membrane-coating lattice scaffolds in the nuclear pore and vesicle coats: commonalities, differences, challenges.

Leksa Nina C NC Schwartz Thomas U TU

Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) 20100312 4

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) regulates all traffic between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. It is a large protein assembly composed of multiple copies of ∼30 nucleoporins (nups). Structural studies of the NPC have been limited by its considerable size and complexity. Progress toward understanding the structure of this nanomachine has benefited from its modular nature, which allows for this 40-60 MDa assembly to be broken down into subcomplexes that can be studied individually. While recent work ...[more]

PMID: 21327078

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Project description:BackgroundDelayed bone regeneration of fractures in osteoporosis patients or of critical-size bone defects after tumor resection are a major medical and socio-economic challenge. Therefore, the development of more effective and osteoinductive biomaterials is crucial.MethodsWe examined the osteogenic potential of macroporous scaffolds with varying pore sizes after biofunctionalization with a collagen/high-sulfated hyaluronan (sHA3) coating in vitro. The three-dimensional scaffolds were made up from a biodegradable three-armed lactic acid-based macromer (TriLA) by cross-polymerization. Templating with solid lipid particles that melt during fabrication generates a continuous pore network. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) cultivated on the functionalized scaffolds in vitro were investigated for cell viability, production of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bone matrix formation. Statistical analysis was performed using student's t-test or two-way ANOVA.ResultsWe succeeded in generating scaffolds that feature a significantly higher average pore size and a broader distribution of individual pore sizes (HiPo) by modifying composition and relative amount of lipid particles, macromer concentration and temperature for cross-polymerization during scaffold fabrication. Overall porosity was retained, while the scaffolds showed a 25% decrease in compressive modulus compared to the initial TriLA scaffolds with a lower pore size (LoPo). These HiPo scaffolds were more readily coated as shown by higher amounts of immobilized collagen (+ 44%) and sHA3 (+ 25%) compared to LoPo scaffolds. In vitro, culture of hMSCs on collagen and/or sHA3-coated HiPo scaffolds demonstrated unaltered cell viability. Furthermore, the production of ALP, an early marker of osteogenesis (+ 3-fold), and formation of new bone matrix (+ 2.5-fold) was enhanced by the functionalization with sHA3 of both scaffold types. Nevertheless, effects were more pronounced on HiPo scaffolds about 112%.ConclusionIn summary, we showed that the improvement of scaffold pore sizes enhanced the coating efficiency with collagen and sHA3, which had a significant positive effect on bone formation markers, underlining the promise of using this material approach for in vivo studies.

Dataset Information

Membrane-coating lattice scaffolds in the nuclear pore and vesicle coats: commonalities, differences, challenges.

Publications

Membrane-coating lattice scaffolds in the nuclear pore and vesicle coats: commonalities, differences, challenges.

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