Issue 12, 2023

Structure and mechanics of the human nuclear pore complex basket using correlative AFM-fluorescence superresolution microscopy

Abstract

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are the only gateways between the nucleus and cytoplasm in eukaryotic cells. They restrict free diffusion to molecules below 5 nm while facilitating the active transport of selected cargoes, sometimes as large as the pore itself. This versatility implies an important pore plasticity. Recently, cryo-EM and AI-based protein modeling of human NPC revealed with acute precision how most constituents are arranged. But the basket, a fish trap-like structure capping the nucleoplasmic side of the pore, remains poorly resolved. Here by atomic force microscopy (AFM) coupled to single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) we revealed that the basket is very soft and explores a large conformational landscape: apart from its canonical basket shape, it dives into the central pore channel or opens, with filaments reaching to the pore sides. Our observations highlight how this structure can adapt and let morphologically diverse cargoes shuttle through NPCs.

Graphical abstract: Structure and mechanics of the human nuclear pore complex basket using correlative AFM-fluorescence superresolution microscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 okt 2022
Accepted
24 yan 2023
First published
06 fev 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 5756-5770

Structure and mechanics of the human nuclear pore complex basket using correlative AFM-fluorescence superresolution microscopy

A. Vial, L. Costa, P. Dosset, P. Rosso, G. Boutières, O. Faklaris, H. Haschke, P. Milhiet and C. M. Doucet, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 5756 DOI: 10.1039/D2NR06034E

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