Nuclear Pore Complex Is Able to Transport Macromolecules with Diameters of ∼39 nm

Bidirectional transport of macromolecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm occurs through the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) by a signal-mediated mechanism that is directed by targeting signals (NLSs) residing on the transported molecules or "cargoes." Nuclear transport starts after interaction of the targeting signal with soluble cellular receptors. After the formation of the cargo-receptor complex in the cytosol, this complex crosses the NPC. Herein, we use gold particles of various sizes coated with cargo-receptor complexes to determine precisely how large macromolecules crossing the NPC by the signal-mediated transport mechanism could be. We found that cargo-receptor-gold complexes with diameter close…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada