Building a gate to the nucleus

Abstract

Structural Biology Nuclear pore complexes form a gateway between the cytoplasm and the nucleus (see the Perspective by Ullman and Powers). Stuwe et al. combined structural, biochemical, and functional analyses to elucidate the architecture of a six-protein complex that makes up the inner ring of the fungal nuclear pore. This includes a central trimeric complex homologous to the Nup62 complex found in metazoans that is incorporated into the nuclear pore inner-ring complex. Chug et al. report the structure of the metazoan trimeric Nup62 complex. Neither study supports a model in which the pore can dilate and constrict. Instead they suggest a rigid pore in which flexible domains called FG repeats fill the channel and form a barrier that can be traversed by receptors that carry cargos across. Science , this issue pp. [56][1] and [106][2]; see also p. [33][3] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aac9176 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aac7420 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aad3797