Insight into structure and assembly of the nuclear pore complex by utilizing the genome of a eukaryotic thermophile

TY - JOUR

T1 - Insight into structure and assembly of the nuclear pore complex by utilizing the genome of a eukaryotic thermophile

AU - Amlacher, Stefan

AU - Sarges, Phillip

AU - Flemming, Dirk

AU - van Noort, Vera

AU - Kunze, Ruth

AU - Devos, Damien P

AU - Arumugam, Manimozhiyan

AU - Bork, Peer

AU - Hurt, Ed

N1 - Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2011/7/22

Y1 - 2011/7/22

N2 - Despite decades of research, the structure and assembly of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which is composed of ~30 nucleoporins (Nups), remain elusive. Here, we report the genome of the thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum (ct) and identify the complete repertoire of Nups therein. The thermophilic proteins show improved properties for structural and biochemical studies compared to their mesophilic counterparts, and purified ctNups enabled the reconstitution of the inner pore ring module that spans the width of the NPC from the anchoring membrane to the central transport channel. This module is composed of two large Nups, Nup192 and Nup170, which are flexibly bridged by short linear motifs made up of linker Nups, Nic96 and Nup53. This assembly illustrates how Nup interactions can generate structural plasticity within the NPC scaffold. Our findings therefore demonstrate the utility of the genome of a thermophilic eukaryote for studying complex molecular machines.

AB - Despite decades of research, the structure and assembly of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which is composed of ~30 nucleoporins (Nups), remain elusive. Here, we report the genome of the thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum (ct) and identify the complete repertoire of Nups therein. The thermophilic proteins show improved properties for structural and biochemical studies compared to their mesophilic counterparts, and purified ctNups enabled the reconstitution of the inner pore ring module that spans the width of the NPC from the anchoring membrane to the central transport channel. This module is composed of two large Nups, Nup192 and Nup170, which are flexibly bridged by short linear motifs made up of linker Nups, Nic96 and Nup53. This assembly illustrates how Nup interactions can generate structural plasticity within the NPC scaffold. Our findings therefore demonstrate the utility of the genome of a thermophilic eukaryote for studying complex molecular machines.

KW - Amino Acid Sequence

KW - Chaetomium

KW - Fungal Proteins

KW - Genome, Fungal

KW - Molecular Sequence Data

KW - Nuclear Pore

KW - Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Sequence Alignment

KW - Two-Hybrid System Techniques

U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.06.039

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.06.039

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21784248

SN - 1097-4172

VL - 146

SP - 277

EP - 289

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 2

ER -