A fence-like coat for the nuclear pore

Figure: Seh1-Nup85 and the nuclear pore. The schematic shows the fence-like structure of the nuclear pore.

Günter Blobel group (The Rockefeller University)

Günter Blobel's group at the Rockefeller University took a major step towards unraveling the structure of the nuclear pore complex by determining the structure of the nucleoporin sub-complex known as Seh1-Nup85. The GM/CA mini-beam was essential to locating better-ordered regions of the thin crystals. The nuclear pore complex includes 30 distinct polypeptides and has a mass of 125x10⁶ Da. The subunit stoichiometry and overall organization are controversial; detailed structures of sub-complexes are essential to developing an accurate picture of the pore. Seh1-Nup85 forms a bent-rod hetero-octamer whose length matches the depth of the nuclear pore. In the working model of Blobel and co-workers, the Seh1-Nup85 hetero-octamer alternates with Sec13-Nup145C (2007 structure from the same group) around the interior lining of the cylindrical complex to form a fence-like coat for the nuclear pore.

Citation:
Debler, EW, Ma, Y, Seo, H-S, Hsia, K-C, Noriega, TR, Blobel, G., Hoelz, A. A Fence-like Coat for the Nuclear Pore Membrane, Mol. Cell 32 (6), 815-826 (2008). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2008.12.001