Artigo Acesso aberto Revisado por pares

Structure of Nup58/45 Suggests Flexible Nuclear Pore Diameter by Intermolecular Sliding

2007; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 315; Issue: 5819 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1135730

ISSN

1095-9203

Autores

Ivo Melčák, André Hoelz, Günter Blobel,

Tópico(s)

Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Resumo

The nucleoporins Nup58 and Nup45 are part of the central transport channel of the nuclear pore complex, which is thought to have a flexible diameter. In the crystal structure of an alpha-helical region of mammalian Nup58/45, we identified distinct tetramers, each consisting of two antiparallel hairpin dimers. The intradimeric interface is hydrophobic, whereas dimer-dimer association occurs through large hydrophilic residues. These residues are laterally displaced in various tetramer conformations, which suggests an intermolecular sliding by 11 angstroms. We propose that circumferential sliding plays a role in adjusting the diameter of the central transport channel.

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