Like a Revolving Door: How Shuttling Proteins Operate Nuclear Pores

Nuclear pore complexes are tiny channels where the exchange of substances between the cell nucleus and the cytoplasm takes place. Scientists at the University of Basel report on startling new research that might overturn established models of nuclear transport regulation. Their study published in the Journal of Cell Biology reveals how shuttling proteins known as importins control the function of nuclear pores - as opposed to the view that nuclear pores control the shuttling of importins. Genetic information is protected in the cell nucleus by a membrane that contains numerous nuclear pores. These pores facilitate the traffic of proteins known as importins that deliver molecular cargoes between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm. In contrast to prevailing views, the team led by Prof. Roderick Lim, Argovia Professor at the Biozentrum and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute of the University of Basel, has now demonstrated that the nuclear pore complex does not work like a simple filter that regulates the nuclear transport process. Rather, different importins cooperate to continuously open and close the pore like a "revolving door".