Caenorhabditis elegansNucleoporins Nup93 and Nup205 Determine the Limit of Nuclear Pore Complex Size Exclusion In Vivo

• DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e03-04-0237
• Publication Date: 2003-08-26T00:49:11Z
• Authors: Vincent Galy; Iain W. Mattaj; Peter Askjaer
• Keywords: Nucleoporin; Nuclear pore; Inner membrane; Nuclear lamina

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) span the nuclear envelope and mediate communication between nucleus cytoplasm. To obtain insight into structure function of NPCs multicellular organisms, we have initiated an extensive analysis Caenorhabditis elegans nucleoporins. Of 20 assigned C. nucleoporin genes, 17 were found to be essential for embryonic development either alone or in combination. In several cases, depletion nucleoporins by RNAi caused severe defects appearance. More specifically, homologs vertebrate Nup93 Nup205 each required normal NPC distribution vivo. Depletion a failure exclusion nonnuclear macromolecules approximately 70 kDa without preventing active protein import assembly envelope. The accompanied abnormal chromatin condensation early arrest. Thus, contribution is establishment cell viability.