'Promiscuous' Protein Interactions Found In The Nuclear Pore Complex
Friday, October 2, 2009 - 10:15
in Physics & Chemistry
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.