(PhysOrg.com) -- The NPC is the only way in or out of a cell's
nucleus. It plays a key role in cellular metabolism and
signaling, and any malfunction in these pores can have lethal
consequences. Now new research reveals further insights into the
design of this evolutionarily ancient and little-understood
transport machinery. The findings suggest that the nuclear pore
complex takes on different formations to carry out its function.
In higher organisms, cells are very selective about what passes
in and out of their nuclei, where the genes reside. This
selectivity helps protect the DNA and is the job of machines
that stud the envelope of the nucleus, called nuclear pore
complexes. These gatekeepers have proved largely inscrutable to
researchers over the years, despite their conspicuously large
size (they are made of 30 different proteins, or nucleoporins),
but bit by bit, scientists are learning how these machines work.
Now a new study reveals the molecular structure of the largest
piece of the molecule-traffick