Seattle BioMed

The yeast nuclear pore complex: composition, architecture, and transport mechanism

Authors: 

Rout MP, Aitchison JD, Suprapto A, Hjertaas K, Zhao Y, Chait BT

Journal: 

J Cell Biol

Publication date: 
February 2000

An understanding of how the nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates nucleocytoplasmic exchange requires a comprehensive inventory of the molecular components of the NPC and a knowledge of how each component contributes to the overall structure of this large molecular translocation machine. Therefore, we have taken a comprehensive approach to classify all components of the yeast NPC (nucleoporins). This involved identifying all the proteins present in a highly enriched NPC fraction, determining which of these proteins were nucleoporins, and localizing each nucleoporin within the NPC. Using these data, we present a map of the molecular architecture of the yeast NPC and provide evidence for a Brownian affinity gating mechanism for nucleocytoplasmic transport.