Kelley Kotaro, Knockenhauer Kevin E, Kabachinski Greg, Schwartz Thomas U
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA USA.
Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2015 May;22(5):425-431. doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2998. Epub 2015 Mar 30.
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the principal gateway for transport into and out of the nucleus. Selectivity is achieved through the hydrogel-like core of the NPC. The structural integrity of the NPC depends on ~15 architectural proteins, which are organized in distinct subcomplexes to form the >40-MDa ring-like structure. Here we present the 4.1-Å crystal structure of a heterotetrameric core element ('hub') of the Y complex, the essential NPC building block, from Myceliophthora thermophila. Using the hub structure together with known Y-complex fragments, we built the entire ~0.5-MDa Y complex. Our data reveal that the conserved core of the Y complex has six rather than seven members. Evolutionarily distant Y-complex assemblies share a conserved core that is very similar in shape and dimension, thus suggesting that there are closely related architectural codes for constructing the NPC in all eukaryotes.
核孔复合体（NPC）是进出细胞核的主要通道。选择性是通过NPC的水凝胶状核心实现的。NPC的结构完整性依赖于约15种结构蛋白，这些蛋白以不同的亚复合体形式组织，形成大于40兆道尔顿的环状结构。在此，我们展示了嗜热毁丝霉中Y复合体（NPC的基本构建模块）异源四聚体核心元件（“枢纽”）的4.1埃晶体结构。利用枢纽结构以及已知的Y复合体片段，我们构建了整个约0.5兆道尔顿的Y复合体。我们的数据表明，Y复合体的保守核心有六个成员而非七个。进化上距离较远的Y复合体组装体共享一个在形状和尺寸上非常相似的保守核心，因此表明在所有真核生物中存在构建NPC的密切相关的结构编码。
