Beck Martin, Förster Friedrich, Ecke Mary, Plitzko Jürgen M, Melchior Frauke, Gerisch Günther, Baumeister Wolfgang, Medalia Ohad
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Science. 2004 Nov 19;306(5700):1387-90. doi: 10.1126/science.1104808. Epub 2004 Oct 28.
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are gateways for nucleocytoplasmic exchange. To analyze their structure in a close-to-life state, we studied transport-active, intact nuclei from Dictyostelium discoideum by means of cryoelectron tomography. Subvolumes of the tomograms containing individual NPCs were extracted in silico and subjected to three-dimensional classification and averaging, whereby distinct structural states were observed. The central plug/transporter (CP/T) was variable in volume and could occupy different positions along the nucleocytoplasmic axis, which supports the notion that it essentially represents cargo in transit. Changes in the position of the CP/T were accompanied by structural rearrangements in the NPC scaffold.
核孔复合体（NPCs）是核质交换的通道。为了在接近生理状态下分析其结构，我们通过冷冻电子断层扫描研究了盘基网柄菌具有运输活性的完整细胞核。在计算机上提取包含单个NPC的断层扫描子体积，并进行三维分类和平均，从而观察到不同的结构状态。中央栓/转运体（CP/T）的体积可变，并且可以沿核质轴占据不同位置，这支持了它本质上代表转运中货物的观点。CP/T位置的变化伴随着NPC支架的结构重排。
