Toward a consensus on the mechanism of nuclear pore complex inheritance

Nucleus. 2014 Mar-Apr;5(2):97-102. doi: 10.4161/nucl.28314. Epub 2014 Feb 25.

Abstract

Nuclear compartmentalization is achieved through the enclosure of the genome by the nuclear envelope; the nuclear envelope is perforated by nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), which form portals that control molecular exchange between the nucleus and cytoplasm. The number of NPCs per nucleus establishes a limit to the flux of molecules across the nuclear envelope and might directly impact genome organization and gene expression in a cell type specific manner. Mechanisms that control NPC number remain ill defined. Our recent study implicates a cytoplasmic pool of the nucleoporin Nsp1 as a factor that controls NPC number during the asymmetric division of budding yeast; Nsp1 acts to ensure that daughters inherit NPCs. We place our data within an emerging model of NPC inheritance in yeast and consider potential analogous mechanisms in multicellular eukaryotes, including the functional conservation of a cytoplasmic pool of Nsp1.

Keywords: actin; asymmetric division; budding yeast; diffusion barrier; nuclear envelope; nuclear pore complex; nuclear transport; nucleus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Consensus*
  • Diffusion
  • Models, Genetic
  • Molecular Motor Proteins / metabolism
  • Nuclear Pore / genetics*
  • Nuclear Pore / metabolism
  • Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Molecular Motor Proteins
  • Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins