Abstract
At the moment, the conditions are in place to describe how to construct nuclear pores and how they work, missing only real understanding of process. The DNA–RNA–protein paradigm proposed by Crick 53 years ago (Symp Soc Exp Biol 12:138–163, 1958; Nature 227:561–563, 1970) severely hampers our understanding of nuclear pore structure and assembly because the problem lies outside paradigm. DNA in this scheme only plays the role of information storage from which information is transferred to RNA, then from RNA to proteins after which proteins perform all of the functions in the cell. Although it is known that DNA is able to build nucleosomes in vivo, many in vitro structures types of origami (Rothemund, Nature 440:297–302, 2006), the DNA is considered to be exotic as structural material for cells. The structural role of RNA is difficult to ignore, in connections with their participation in structures of ribosomes, ribonucleoproteins, and ribozymes, but imagine that DNA performs an important structural role in the cell is impossible in opinion of many authors. So, when there was a problem in explaining the origin of the nuclear pore, all efforts of biologists were directed to proteins such as nucleoporins, especially when taking into account that there are 30 nucleoporins and only one DNA. Here, I try to explain the typical mistakes of the old approach to such a complex problem as nuclear pore structure and assembly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Crick FHC (1958) On protein synthesis. Symp Soc Exp Biol 12:138–163
Crick F (1970) Central dogma of molecular biology. Nature 227(5258):561–563
DeGrasse JA et al (2009) Evidence for a shared nuclear pore complex architecture that is conserved from the last common eukaryotic ancestor. Mol Cell Proteomics 8:2119–2130
Elo A et al (2003) Nuclear genes that encode mitochondrial proteins for DNA and RNA metabolism are clustered in the Arabidopsis genome. Plant Cell 15:1619–1631
Fahrenkrog B et al (2004) The nuclear pore complex: a jack of all trades? Trends Biochem Sci 29:175–182
Goldberg MW, Wiese C, Allen TD, Wilson KL (1997) Dimples, pores, star-rings, and thin rings on growing nuclear envelopes: evidence for structural intermediates in nuclear pore complex assembly. J Cell Sci 110:409–420
Hsia KC (2007) Architecture of a coat for the nuclear pore membrane. Cell 131:1313–1326
Inoue A, Zhang Y (2014) Nucleosome assembly is required for nuclear pore complex assembly in mouse zygotes. Nat Struct Mol Biol 21:609–616
Kiseleva E et al (2007) Reticulon 4a/NogoA locates to regions of high membrane curvature and may have a role in nuclear envelope growth. J Struct Biol 160:224–235
Kuvichkin VV (1983) Theoretical model of DNA-membrane contacts. Biofizika 28:771–775 (Russian)
Kuvichkin VV (2002) DNA-lipid interactions in vitro and in vivo. Bioelectrochemistry 58:3–12
Kuvichkin VV (2009) Investigation of ternary complexes: DNA–phosphatidylcholine liposomes–Mg2+ by freeze-fracture method and their role in the formation of some cell structures. J Membr Biol 231:29–34
Kuvichkin VV (2011) The mechanism of a nuclear pore assembly: a molecular biophysics view. J Membr Biol 241:109–116
Kuvichkin VV (2012) Isolation of chromatin DNA tightly bound to the nuclear envelope of HeLa cells. J Membr Biol 245:683–690
Kuvichkin VV, Danev R, Shigematsu H, Nagayama K (2009) DNA-induced aggregation and fusion of phosphatidylcholine liposomes in the presence of multivalent cations observed by the cryo-TEM technique. J Membr Biol 227:95–103
Li Z et al (2015) Exon-intron circular RNAs regulate transcription in the nucleus. Nat Struct Mol Biol 22:256–264. doi:10.1038/nsmb.2959
Lundberg D, Berezhnoy NV, Lu C, Korolev N, Chun-Jen S, Alfredsson V, Miguel MG, Lindman B, Nordenskild L (2010) Interactions between cationic lipid bilayers and model chromatin. Langmuir 26:12488–12492
Maul GG, Deaven L (1977) Quantitative determination of nuclear pore complexes in cycling cells with differing DNA content. J Cell Biol 73:748–760
Neupert W, Herrmann JM (2007) Translocation of proteins into mitochondria. Annu Rev Biochem 76:723–749
Ricchetti M, Tekaia F, Dujon B (2004) Continued colonization of the human genome by mitochondrial DNA. PLoS Biol 2(9):E273. Epub 2004 Sep 7
Rothemund P (2006) Folding DNA to create nanoscale shapes and patterns. Nature 440:297–302
Szymborska A et al (2013) Nuclear pore scaffold structure analyzed by super-resolution microscopy and particle averaging. Science 341:655–658
Vollmer B, Schooley A, Sachdev R, Eisenhardt N, Schneider AM et al (2012) Dimerization and direct membrane interaction of Nup53 contribute to nuclear pore complex assembly. EMBO J 31:4072–4084
Yildirim S, Castano E, Sobol M, PhilimonenkoVV Dzijak R, Venit T, Hozak P (2013) Involvement of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in RNA polymerase I transcription. J Cell Sci 126:2730–2739
Zeitler B, Weis K (2004) The FG-repeat asymmetry of the nuclear pore complex is dispensable for bulk nucleocytoplasmic transport in vivo. J Cell Biol 167:583–590
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuvichkin, V. Holes in the Nuclear Membrane as an Illustration of Gaps in the Understanding of the Biology by Biologists. J Membrane Biol 248, 741–744 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-015-9786-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-015-9786-9