Blueprints for the construction of nuclear pores deciphered
In a recent study, a team of researchers led by Alwin Köhler at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) belonging to the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna offer new insights into how nuclear pores are constructed in the nuclear envelope. Nuclear pores regulate the exchange of macromolecules between the interior of the nucleus, where genetic information is stored, and the cytoplasm, where these blueprints are used to produce many different cellular building blocks. More than a million macromolecules are transported through the 3,000 – 4,000 nuclear pores in a human nucleus every minute. This exchange is a vital function and transport errors are associated with cancer, ageing and autoimmune diseases. The results of this study have now appeared in the renowned technical journal Developmental Cell.