Abstract
Correlation between nuclear and cell size, the nucleocytoplasmic ratio, is a cellular phenomenon that has been reported throughout eukaryotes for more than a century but the mechanisms that achieve it are not well understood. Here, we review work that has shed light on the cellular processes involved in nuclear size control. These studies have implicated nucleocytoplasmic transport, LINC complexes, RNA processing, regulation of nuclear envelope expansion and partitioning of importin α in nuclear size control, moving us closer to a mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon.
Highlights
Nucleocytoplasmic ratio “The constant, which we must accept as something given and not at present further analyzable, is the fixed proportion between nuclear volume and protoplasmic volume, namely, the karyoplasmic ratio.”
This last point is because nuclear volume scales with r3 whilst nuclear surface area scales with r2
The studies discussed here have uncovered molecular players and biological processes involved in nuclear size control
Summary
Nucleocytoplasmic ratio “The constant, which we must accept as something given and not at present further analyzable, is the fixed proportion between nuclear volume and protoplasmic volume, namely, the karyoplasmic ratio.”. Genetic screens for fission yeast mutants displaying aberrant N/C ratios have implicated a range of factors and biological processes in nuclear size control (Cantwell and Nurse 2019; Kume et al 2017).
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