Molecular Biology Inteligence Unit - Nuclear Transport (2009)

Description: Both from a morphological and a functional point of view, the nucleus is central to modern cell biology. Nuclear transport of proteins and RNAs continues to be a fascinating research topic on its own. Furthermore, it aff ects many aspects of gene expression and general cellular functions and has far-reaching implications for human health
It has been a long way from the beautiful work of Joseph Gall, describing the nuclear pore and its octagonal symmetry by electron microscopy more than 40 years ago, to the detailed structures of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which are approaching atomic resolution, at least for some subcomplexes
After a general introduction into the concepts of nuclear transport by Ralph Kehlenbach, Yvonne Lussi and Birthe Fahrenkrog describe the architecture of the NPC and its functions, including those that are not directly related to nuclear transport. Zi Chao Zhang and Yuh Min Chook continue and provide a structural analysis of transport complexes. David Goldfarb then discusses the models that try to explain the molecular mechanisms of nuclear transport, focusing on the biophysical properties of the characteristic phenylalanine-glycine repeats of nucleoporins.