Defining the essential functional regions of the nucleoporin Nup145p

1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (7) ◽  
pp. 911-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Emtage ◽  
M. Bucci ◽  
J.L. Watkins ◽  
S.R. Wente

Studies of the essential nucleoporin Nup145p have shown that its depletion is coincident with a block in RNA export and that deletion of its amino-terminal domain results in clustering of nuclear pore complexes. To further define the functional domains of Nup145p, we have characterized a panel of nup145 mutants. Deletions from both the amino terminus and the carboxy terminus resulted in temperature sensitive mutants that accumulated polyadenylated RNA in the nucleus at the non-permissive temperature. In addition, these mutants also displayed constitutive clustering of nuclear pore complexes in localized patches of the nuclear envelope. These results suggested that an internal region of Nup145p consisting of amino acids 593–893 is essential for function. Accordingly, when this region was deleted, growth was not supported at any temperature, whereas the region alone was able to complement a null mutation when expressed on a high copy plasmid. Previous studies have suggested that Nup145p is cleaved into two polypeptides of approximately 65 and 80 kDa. Interestingly, our experiments suggest that cleavage occurs in vivo. However, a small internal deletion of 17 amino acid residues that abolished cleavage had no effect on cell growth. Therefore, cleavage is not necessary for Nup145p function. When a sequence harboring the Nup145p cleavage site required for Nup145p cleavage was inserted in a chimeric protein, it was not sufficient for mediating cleavage. Cleavage likely requires a second region from amino acid residues 247–524 in addition to the cleavage site.

1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
S R Wente ◽  
M P Rout ◽  
G Blobel

We have identified a novel family of yeast nuclear pore complex proteins. Three individual members of this family, NUP49, NUP100, and NUP116, have been isolated and then characterized by a combination of molecular genetics and immunolocalization. Employing immunoelectron and immunofluorescence microscopy on yeast cells, we found that the binding of a polyspecific monoclonal antibody recognizing this family was predominantly at the nuclear pore complexes. Furthermore, the tagging of NUP49 with a unique epitope enabled the immunolocalization of this protein to the nuclear pore complex by both fluorescence and electron microscopy. DNA sequence analysis has shown that the amino-terminal regions of NUP49, NUP100, and NUP116 share repeated "GLFG" motifs separated from each other by glutamine, asparagine, serine and threonine rich spacers. All three proteins lack a repetitive domain found in the two precisely described yeast nuclear pore complex proteins. Only NUP49 is essential for cell viability. NUP116-deficient cells grow very slowly and are temperature sensitive, whereas the lack of NUP100 has no detectable phenotype. NUP100 and NUP116 are homologous over their entire lengths. Interestingly, NUP100 and NUP116 are both flanked by a histidine tRNA gene and a transposon element suggesting that they may have arisen by gene duplication. We propose that subfamilies of pore complex proteins can be defined by their characteristic combinations of different modular domains.


2000 ◽  
Vol 129 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 306-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelly Panté ◽  
Franziska Thomas ◽  
Ueli Aebi ◽  
Brian Burke ◽  
Ricardo Bastos

1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 2225-2234 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Powell ◽  
B Burke

The movement between nuclei of an integral protein of the inner nuclear membrane has been studied in rat/mouse and rat/hamster heterokaryons. This protein, p55, was found to equilibrate between nuclei over a period of approximately 6 h in the absence of new protein synthesis. When rat/mouse heterokaryons were constructed using an undifferentiated murine embryonal carcinoma (P19), which lacks lamins A and C, no accumulation of p55 in the mouse cell nucleus was observed. However, P19 nuclei could be rendered competent to accumulate p55 by transfecting the parent cells with human lamin A before cell fusion, supporting the notion that p55 may interact with the nuclear lamina. Since p55 does not appear to be able to dissociate from the nuclear membrane, it is concluded that this exchange between nuclei does not occur in the aqueous phase and instead is probably membrane mediated. It is proposed that this protein may be free to move between the inner and outer nuclear membranes via the continuities at the nuclear pore complexes and that transfer between nuclei occurs via lateral diffusion through the peripheral ER, which appears to form a single continuous membrane system in these heterokaryons. One implication of these observations is that accumulation of at least some integral proteins in the inner nuclear membrane may be mediated by interactions with other nuclear components and may not require a single defined targeting sequence.


1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2439-2461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirella Bucci ◽  
Susan R. Wente

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are large proteinaceous portals for exchanging macromolecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Revealing how this transport apparatus is assembled will be critical for understanding the nuclear transport mechanism. To address this issue and to identify factors that regulate NPC formation and dynamics, a novel fluorescence-based strategy was used. This approach is based on the functional tagging of NPC proteins with the green fluorescent protein (GFP), and the hypothesis that NPC assembly mutants will have distinct GFP-NPC signals as compared with wild-type (wt) cells. By fluorescence-activated cell sorting for cells with low GFP signal from a population of mutagenized cells expressing GFP-Nup49p, three complementation groups were identified: two correspond to mutantnup120 and gle2 alleles that result in clusters of NPCs. Interestingly, a third group was a novel temperature-sensitive allele of nup57. The lowered GFP-Nup49p incorporation in the nup57-E17 cells resulted in a decreased fluorescence level, which was due in part to a sharply diminished interaction between the carboxy-terminal truncated nup57pE17and wt Nup49p. Interestingly, thenup57-E17 mutant also affected the incorporation of a specific subset of other nucleoporins into the NPC. Decreased levels of NPC-associated Nsp1p and Nup116p were observed. In contrast, the localizations of Nic96p, Nup82p, Nup159p, Nup145p, and Pom152p were not markedly diminished. Coincidentally, nuclear import capacity was inhibited. Taken together, the identification of such mutants with specific perturbations of NPC structure validates this fluorescence-based strategy as a powerful approach for providing insight into the mechanism of NPC biogenesis.


1995 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 939-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
L C Gorsch ◽  
T C Dockendorff ◽  
C N Cole

In a screen for Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes required for nucleocytoplasmic transport of messenger RNA, we identified the RAT7 gene (ribonucleic acid trafficking), which encodes an essential protein of 1,460 amino acids. Rat7p is located at the nuclear rim in a punctate pattern characteristic of nucleoporins. Furthermore, the central third of Rat7p contains 22 XXFG and three XFXFG degenerate repeats that are similar to signature GLFG and XFXFG repeats present in a majority of yeast and some mammalian nucleoporins sequenced to date. Shift of a strain bearing the temperature-sensitive rat7-1 allele from 23 degrees C to 37 degrees C resulted in rapid (within 15 minutes) cessation of mRNA export, but did not cause concomitant cytoplasmic accumulation of a reporter protein bearing a nuclear localization signal. This suggests that Rat7p may play a direct role in nucleocytoplasmic export of RNA. Immunofluorescence and thin section electron microscopy revealed that in rat7-1 cells grown at 23 degrees C, the majority of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) were clustered on one side of the nucleus. No ultrastructural abnormalities of the nuclear envelope were seen. Interestingly, shifting rat7-1 cells to 37 degrees C for 1 h caused the NPCs to disperse, restoring near wild-type NPC distribution. After this temperature shift, the mutant Rat7p was no longer detectable by immunofluorescence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sean Mauro ◽  
Gunta Celma ◽  
Vitaly Zimyanin ◽  
Kimberley H. Gibson ◽  
Stefanie Redemann ◽  
...  

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are large protein assemblies that facilitate transport of macromolecules across the nuclear envelope (NE) [1, 2]. How thousands of NPCs rapidly assemble to form a functional NE after open mitosis is not known. Recruitment of the outer ring Nup107-160 complex to the NE initiates NPC assembly. The Nup53/93 complex bridges the outer ring to the central channel to form a functional pore [3-6]. Nup53 interacts with the conserved transmembrane nucleoporin Ndc1; however, how Ndc1 contributes to post-mitotic NPC assembly is unclear [7-9]. Here, we use C. elegans embryos to show that the timely formation of a functional NE after mitosis depends on Ndc1. Endogenously tagged Ndc1 is recruited early to the reforming NE and is highly mobile in the nuclear rim. 3D analysis of NE reformation revealed a significant decrease in NPC density in ndc1 deleted embryos: continuous nuclear membranes contained few holes where NPCs are normally located. Nup160 is highly mobile in NEs depleted of Ndc1 and outer ring scaffold components are less enriched at the rim. Nup160 is not recruited to the nuclear rim when both ndc1 and nup53 are absent and nuclear assembly fails. This suggests that Ndc1 and Nup53 function in part in parallel pathways to drive post-mitotic nuclear assembly in vivo. Together, we show that Ndc1 dynamically associates with the NE and promotes stable association of the outer ring scaffold with nascent NEs to facilitate NPC assembly after open mitosis, revealing a previously uncharacterized role for Ndc1 in forming functional NE.


1986 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 2006-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
M C Dabauvalle ◽  
W W Franke

A method to examine the diffusible state and the sizes of major cytoplasmic proteins in a living cell is described. Small (40-300 microns) commercially available gel filtration beads of a broad range of Mr exclusion limits were microsurgically implanted into the cytoplasm of oocytes of the frog, Xenopus laevis, usually after metabolic labeling of oocyte proteins with [35S]methionine. After equilibration in vivo for several hours, the appearance of the implanted cells, notably the bead-cytoplasm boundary, was examined by light and electron microscopy of sections and found to be unaffected. After incubation the beads were isolated, briefly rinsed, and their protein contents examined by one- or two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. We show that diffusible proteins can be identified by their inclusion in the pores of the gel filtration beads used and that their approximate sizes can be estimated from the size exclusion values of the specific materials used. The application of this method to important cell biological questions is demonstrated by showing that several "karyophobic proteins," i.e., proteins of the cytosolic fraction which accumulate in the cytoplasm in vivo, are indeed diffusible in the living oocyte and appear with sizes similar to those determined in vitro. This indicates that the nucleo-cytoplasmic distribution of certain diffusible proteins is governed, in addition to size exclusion at nuclear pore complexes and karyophilic "signals," by other, as yet unknown forces. Some possible applications of this method of gel filtration in vivo are discussed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
O Li ◽  
C V Heath ◽  
D C Amberg ◽  
T C Dockendorff ◽  
C S Copeland ◽  
...  

To identify genes whose products play potential roles in the nucleocytoplasmic export of messenger RNA, we isolated temperature-sensitive strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and examined them by fluorescent in situ hybridization. With the use of a digoxigen-tagged oligo-(dT)50 probe, we identified those that showed nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA when cells were shifted to the nonpermissive temperature. We describe here the properties of yeast strains bearing the rat3-1 mutation (RAT-ribonucleic acid trafficking) and the cloning of the RAT3 gene. When cultured at the permissive temperature of 23 degrees C, fewer than 10% of cells carrying the rat3-1 allele showed nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA, whereas approximately 70% showed nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA, whereas approximately 70% showed nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA after a shift to 37 degrees C for 4 h. In wild-type cells, nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are distributed relatively evenly around the nuclear envelope. Both indirect immunofluorescence analysis and electron microscopy of rat3-1 cells indicated that NPCs were clustered into one or a few regions of the NE in mutant cells. Similar NPC clustering was seen in mutant cells cultured at temperatures between 15 degrees C and 37 degrees C. The RAT3 gene encodes an 1157-amino acid protein without similarity to other known proteins. It is essential for growth only at 37 degrees C. Cells carrying a disruption of the RAT3 gene were very similar to cells carrying the original rat3-1 mutation; they showed temperature-dependent nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA and exhibited constitutive clustering of NPCs. Epitope tagging of Rat3p demonstrated that it is located at the nuclear periphery and co-localizes with nuclear pore proteins recognized by the RL1 monoclonal antibody. We refer to this nucleoporin as Rat3p/Nup133p.


2004 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Zeitler ◽  
Karsten Weis

Nucleocytoplasmic transport occurs through gigantic proteinaceous channels called nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Translocation through the NPC is exquisitely selective and is mediated by interactions between soluble transport carriers and insoluble NPC proteins that contain phenylalanine-glycine (FG) repeats. Although most FG nucleoporins (Nups) are organized symmetrically about the planar axis of the nuclear envelope, very few localize exclusively to one side of the NPC. We constructed Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants with asymmetric FG repeats either deleted or swapped to generate NPCs with inverted FG asymmetry. The mutant Nups localize properly within the NPC and exhibit exchanged binding specificity for the export factor Xpo1. Surprisingly, we were unable to detect any defects in the Kap95, Kap121, Xpo1, or mRNA transport pathways in cells expressing the mutant FG Nups. These findings suggest that the biased distribution of FG repeats is not required for major nucleocytoplasmic trafficking events across the NPC.


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