Structural study backs new model for the nuclear pore complex
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 - 13:42
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- In higher organisms, the genetic material is confined and protected in the cell nucleus. In order for a healthy cell to function, the DNA must send manufacturing orders through the double membrane of the nucleus and into the cell`s cytoplasm, where the protein production factories are and where most cellular functions are carried out. The sole portals through which these instructions pass — nuclear pore complexes — have a say in what the orders are and how they are conveyed. But these conspicuously large structures have ironically proved all but inscrutable to researchers over the years.