scholarly journals Stoichiometry and compositional plasticity of the yeast nuclear pore complex revealed by quantitative fluorescence microscopy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasikumar Rajoo ◽  
Pascal Vallotton ◽  
Evgeny Onischenko ◽  
Karsten Weis

AbstractThe nuclear pore complex (NPC) is an 8-fold symmetrical channel providing selective transport of biomolecules across the nuclear envelope. Each NPC consists of ~30 different nuclear pore proteins (Nups) all present in multiple copies per NPC. Significant progress has recently been made in the characterization of the vertebrate NPC structure, however, because of the estimated size differences between the vertebrate and yeast NPC, it has been unclear whether the NPC architecture is conserved between species. Here, we have developed a quantitative image analysis pipeline, termed Nuclear Rim Intensity Measurement or NuRIM, to precisely determine copy numbers for almost all Nups within native NPCs of budding yeast cells. Our analysis demonstrates that the majority of yeast Nups are present at most in 16 copies per NPC. This reveals a dramatic difference to the stoichiometry determined for the human NPC suggesting that despite a high degree of individual Nup conservation, the yeast and human NPC architecture is significantly different. Furthermore, using NuRIM we examined the effects of mutations on NPC stoichiometry. We demonstrate for two paralog pairs of key scaffold Nups, Nup170/Nup157 and Nup192/Nup188 that their altered expression leads to significant changes in Nup stoichiometry inducing either voids in the NPC structure or substitution of one paralog by the other. Thus, our results not only provide accurate stoichiometry information for the intact yeast NPC but also reveal an intriguing compositional plasticity of the NPC architecture, which may explain how differences in NPC composition could arise in the course of evolution.SignificanceThe nuclear pore complex (NPC) is one of the largest protein complexes in eukaryotes comprising over 500 nucleoporin subunits. The NPC is essential for transport of biomolecules across the nuclear envelope, however, due to its enormous size, it has been a challenge to characterize its molecular architecture. Herein, we have developed a novel, widely applicable imaging pipeline to determine the absolute nucleoporin abundances in native yeast NPCs. This reveals that the NPC composition dramatically differs between yeast and human despite an overall conservation of individual subunits. We also applied our imaging pipeline to examine yeast mutants revealing a remarkable compositional plasticity of NPCs. Our stoichiometry analyses provide an important resource for the generation of high-resolution structure models of the NPC.

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (17) ◽  
pp. E3969-E3977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasikumar Rajoo ◽  
Pascal Vallotton ◽  
Evgeny Onischenko ◽  
Karsten Weis

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is an eightfold symmetrical channel providing selective transport of biomolecules across the nuclear envelope. Each NPC consists of ∼30 different nuclear pore proteins (Nups) all present in multiple copies per NPC. Significant progress has recently been made in the characterization of the vertebrate NPC structure. However, because of the estimated size differences between the vertebrate and yeast NPC, it has been unclear whether the NPC architecture is conserved between species. Here, we have developed a quantitative image analysis pipeline, termed nuclear rim intensity measurement (NuRIM), to precisely determine copy numbers for almost all Nups within native NPCs of budding yeast cells. Our analysis demonstrates that the majority of yeast Nups are present at most in 16 copies per NPC. This reveals a dramatic difference to the stoichiometry determined for the human NPC, suggesting that despite a high degree of individual Nup conservation, the yeast and human NPC architecture is significantly different. Furthermore, using NuRIM, we examined the effects of mutations on NPC stoichiometry. We demonstrate for two paralog pairs of key scaffold Nups, Nup170/Nup157 and Nup192/Nup188, that their altered expression leads to significant changes in the NPC stoichiometry inducing either voids in the NPC structure or substitution of one paralog by the other. Thus, our results not only provide accurate stoichiometry information for the intact yeast NPC but also reveal an intriguing compositional plasticity of the NPC architecture, which may explain how differences in NPC composition could arise in the course of evolution.


1998 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birthe Fahrenkrog ◽  
Eduard C. Hurt ◽  
Ueli Aebi ◽  
Nelly Panté

The nuclear pore complex (NPC), a supramolecular assembly of ∼100 different proteins (nucleoporins), mediates bidirectional transport of molecules between the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus. Extensive structural studies have revealed the three- dimensional (3D) architecture of Xenopus NPCs, and eight of the ∼12 cloned and characterized vertebrate nucleoporins have been localized within the NPC. Thanks to the power of yeast genetics, 30 yeast nucleoporins have recently been cloned and characterized at the molecular level. However, the localization of these nucleoporins within the 3D structure of the NPC has remain elusive, mainly due to limitations of preparing yeast cells for electron microscopy (EM). We have developed a new protocol for preparing yeast cells for EM that yielded structurally well-preserved yeast NPCs. A direct comparison of yeast and Xenopus NPCs revealed that the NPC structure is evolutionarily conserved, although yeast NPCs are 15% smaller in their linear dimensions. With this preparation protocol and yeast strains expressing nucleoporins tagged with protein A, we have localized Nsp1p and its interacting partners Nup49p, Nup57p, Nup82p, and Nic96p by immuno-EM. Accordingly, Nsp1p resides in three distinct subcomplexes which are located at the entry and exit of the central gated channel and at the terminal ring of the nuclear basket.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (663) ◽  
pp. eabd8379
Author(s):  
Heba Ali ◽  
Lena Marth ◽  
Dilja Krueger-Burg

Postsynaptic organizational protein complexes play central roles both in orchestrating synapse formation and in defining the functional properties of synaptic transmission that together shape the flow of information through neuronal networks. A key component of these organizational protein complexes is the family of synaptic adhesion proteins called neuroligins. Neuroligins form transsynaptic bridges with presynaptic neurexins to regulate various aspects of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. Neuroligin-2 (NLGN2) is the only member that acts exclusively at GABAergic inhibitory synapses. Altered expression and mutations in NLGN2 and several of its interacting partners are linked to cognitive and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, and anxiety. Research on NLGN2 has fundamentally shaped our understanding of the molecular architecture of inhibitory synapses. Here, we discuss the current knowledge on the molecular and cellular functions of mammalian NLGN2 and its role in the neuronal circuitry that regulates behavior in rodents and humans.


Nucleus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Clever ◽  
Yasuhiro Mimura ◽  
Tomoko Funakoshi ◽  
Naoko Imamoto

Science ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 352 (6283) ◽  
pp. 363-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kosinski ◽  
S. Mosalaganti ◽  
A. von Appen ◽  
R. Teimer ◽  
A. L. DiGuilio ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 616-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Lin Liu ◽  
Colin P.C. De Souza ◽  
Aysha H. Osmani ◽  
Stephen A. Osmani

In Aspergillus nidulans nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) undergo partial mitotic disassembly such that 12 NPC proteins (Nups) form a core structure anchored across the nuclear envelope (NE). To investigate how the NPC core is maintained, we affinity purified the major core An-Nup84-120 complex and identified two new fungal Nups, An-Nup37 and An-ELYS, previously thought to be vertebrate specific. During mitosis the An-Nup84-120 complex locates to the NE and spindle pole bodies but, unlike vertebrate cells, does not concentrate at kinetochores. We find that mutants lacking individual An-Nup84-120 components are sensitive to the membrane destabilizer benzyl alcohol (BA) and high temperature. Although such mutants display no defects in mitotic spindle formation, they undergo mitotic specific disassembly of the NPC core and transient aggregation of the mitotic NE, suggesting the An-Nup84-120 complex might function with membrane. Supporting this, we show cells devoid of all known fungal transmembrane Nups (An-Ndc1, An-Pom152, and An-Pom34) are viable but that An-ndc1 deletion combined with deletion of individual An-Nup84-120 components is either lethal or causes sensitivity to treatments expected to destabilize membrane. Therefore, the An-Nup84-120 complex performs roles, perhaps at the NPC membrane as proposed previously, that become essential without the An-Ndc1 transmembrane Nup.


2001 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Heun ◽  
Thierry Laroche ◽  
M.K. Raghuraman ◽  
Susan M. Gasser

We have analyzed the subnuclear position of early- and late-firing origins of DNA replication in intact yeast cells using fluorescence in situ hybridization and green fluorescent protein (GFP)–tagged chromosomal domains. In both cases, origin position was determined with respect to the nuclear envelope, as identified by nuclear pore staining or a NUP49-GFP fusion protein. We find that in G1 phase nontelomeric late-firing origins are enriched in a zone immediately adjacent to the nuclear envelope, although this localization does not necessarily persist in S phase. In contrast, early firing origins are randomly localized within the nucleus throughout the cell cycle. If a late-firing telomere-proximal origin is excised from its chromosomal context in G1 phase, it remains late-firing but moves rapidly away from the telomere with which it was associated, suggesting that the positioning of yeast chromosomal domains is highly dynamic. This is confirmed by time-lapse microscopy of GFP-tagged origins in vivo. We propose that sequences flanking late-firing origins help target them to the periphery of the G1-phase nucleus, where a modified chromatin structure can be established. The modified chromatin structure, which would in turn retard origin firing, is both autonomous and mobile within the nucleus.


1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (6) ◽  
pp. 1441-1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
R W Wozniak ◽  
G Blobel

The glycoprotein gp210 is located in the "pore membrane," a specialized domain of the nuclear envelope to which the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is anchored. gp210 contains a large cisternal domain, a single transmembrane segment (TM), and a COOH-terminal, 58-amino acid residue cytoplasmic tail (CT) (Wozniak, R. W., E. Bartnik, and G. Blobel. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 108:2083-2092; Greber, U. F., A. Senior, and L. Gerace. 1990. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 9:1495-1502). To locate determinants for sorting of gp210 to the pore membrane, we constructed various cDNAs coding for wild-type, mutant, and chimeric gp210, and monitored localization of the expressed protein in 3T3 cells by immunofluorescence microscopy using appropriate antibodies. The large cisternal domain of gp210 (95% of its mass) did not reveal any sorting determinants. Surprisingly, the TM of gp210 is sufficient for sorting to the pore membrane. The CT also contains a sorting determinant, but it is weaker than that of the TM. We propose specific lateral association of the transmembrane helices of two proteins to yield either a gp210 homodimer or a heterodimer of gp210 and another protein. The cytoplasmically oriented tails of these dimers may bind cooperatively to the adjacent NPCs. In addition, we demonstrate that gp210 co-localizes with cytoplasmically dispersed nucleoporins, suggesting a cytoplasmic association of these components.


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