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Ultrastructural localization of actin and actin-binding proteins in the nucleus

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Abstract

Nuclear actin plays an important role in such processes as chromatin remodeling, transcriptional regulation, RNA processing, and nuclear export. Recent research has demonstrated that actin in the nucleus probably exists in dynamic equilibrium between monomeric and polymeric forms, and some of the actin-binding proteins, known to regulate actin dynamics in cytoplasm, have been also shown to be present in the nucleus. In this paper, we present ultrastructural data on distribution of actin and various actin-binding proteins (α-actinin, filamin, p190RhoGAP, paxillin, spectrin, and tropomyosin) in nuclei of HeLa cells and resting human lymphocytes. Probing extracts of HeLa cells for the presence of actin-binding proteins also confirmed their presence in nuclei. We report for the first time the presence of tropomyosin and p190RhoGAP in the cell nucleus, and the spatial colocalization of actin with spectrin, paxillin, and α-actinin in the nucleolus.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. T. Karaoli for anti-p190RhoGap antibody, Prof. M. Way for anti-paxillin antibody, Dr. Y. Raymond for anti-lamin A antibody, and Dr. Pavel Dráber for anti-tubulin antibody. We are grateful to K. Gaplovská-Kyselá for her help with writing the manuscript. This work was supported by The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Ref. No. LC 545 and 2B06063), by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (204/05H023), and by the institutional grant AV0Z50520514.

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  1. Institute of Molecular Genetics, v.v.i, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Hana Dingová, Jana Fukalová, Miloslava Maninová, Vlada V. Philimonenko & Pavel Hozák

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  1. Hana Dingová
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  2. Jana Fukalová
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Correspondence to Pavel Hozák.

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Dingová, H., Fukalová, J., Maninová, M. et al. Ultrastructural localization of actin and actin-binding proteins in the nucleus. Histochem Cell Biol 131, 425–434 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-008-0539-z

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