Jovanovic-Talisman Tijana, Zilman Anton
Department of Molecular Medicine, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California.
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Biophys J. 2017 Jul 11;113(1):6-14. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.05.024.
In eukaryotic cells, transport of molecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm is facilitated by highly selective and efficient biomachines known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). The structural details of NPCs vary across species, with many of their constituent proteins exhibiting relatively low sequence conservation; yet the NPC as a whole retains its general architecture and mechanism of action in all eukaryotes from yeast to humans. This functional conservation in the absence of precise molecular conservation suggests that many aspects of the NPC transport mechanism may be understood based on general biophysical considerations. Accordingly, some aspects of NPC function have been recapitulated in artificial nanochannel mimics, even though they lack certain molecular elements of the endogenous NPC. Herein, we review biophysical aspects of NPC architecture and function and cover recent progress in the field. We also review recent advances in man-made molecular filters inspired by NPCs, and their applications in nanotechnology. We conclude the review with an outlook on outstanding questions in the field and biomedical aspects of NPC transport.
在真核细胞中，细胞核与细胞质之间的分子运输由称为核孔复合体（NPC）的高度选择性和高效的生物机器所促进。NPC的结构细节因物种而异，其许多组成蛋白的序列保守性相对较低；然而，NPC作为一个整体在从酵母到人类的所有真核生物中都保留了其总体结构和作用机制。在缺乏精确分子保守性的情况下的这种功能保守性表明，NPC运输机制的许多方面可能基于一般的生物物理考虑来理解。因此，尽管人工纳米通道模拟物缺乏内源性NPC的某些分子元件，但NPC功能的某些方面已在其中得到重现。在此，我们综述NPC结构和功能的生物物理方面，并涵盖该领域的最新进展。我们还综述了受NPC启发的人造分子过滤器的最新进展及其在纳米技术中的应用。我们以对该领域悬而未决的问题以及NPC运输的生物医学方面的展望来结束本综述。
