A self-inhibitory interaction within Nup155 and membrane binding are required for nuclear pore complex formation

Advances in the understanding of nuclear pore complexes in human diseases

BACKGROUND

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are sophisticated and dynamic protein structures that straddle the nuclear envelope and act as gatekeepers for transporting molecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. NPCs comprise up to 30 different proteins known as nucleoporins (NUPs). However, a growing body of research has suggested that NPCs play important roles in gene regulation, viral infections, cancer, mitosis, genetic diseases, kidney diseases, immune system diseases, and degenerative neurological and muscular pathologies.

PURPOSE

In this review, we introduce the structure and function of NPCs. Then We described the physiological and pathological effects of each component of NPCs which provide a direction for future clinical applications.

METHODS

The literatures from PubMed have been reviewed for this article.

CONCLUSION

This review summarizes current studies on the implications of NPCs in human physiology and pathology, highlighting the mechanistic underpinnings of NPC-associated diseases.

A checkpoint function for Nup98 in nuclear pore formation suggested by novel inhibitory nanobodies

Nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis is a still enigmatic example of protein self-assembly. We now introduce several cross-reacting anti-Nup nanobodies for imaging intact nuclear pore complexes from frog to human. We also report a simplified assay that directly tracks postmitotic NPC assembly with added fluorophore-labeled anti-Nup nanobodies. During interphase, NPCs are inserted into a pre-existing nuclear envelope. Monitoring this process is challenging because newly assembled NPCs are indistinguishable from pre-existing ones. We overcame this problem by inserting Xenopus-derived NPCs into human nuclear envelopes and using frog-specific anti-Nup nanobodies for detection. We further asked whether anti-Nup nanobodies could serve as NPC assembly inhibitors. Using a selection strategy against conserved epitopes, we obtained anti-Nup93, Nup98, and Nup155 nanobodies that block Nup-Nup interfaces and arrest NPC assembly. We solved structures of nanobody-target complexes and identified roles for the Nup93 α-solenoid domain in recruiting Nup358 and the Nup214·88·62 complex, as well as for Nup155 and the Nup98 autoproteolytic domain in NPC scaffold assembly. The latter suggests a checkpoint linking pore formation to the assembly of the Nup98-dominated permeability barrier.

AI-based structure prediction empowers integrative structural analysis of human nuclear pores

INTRODUCTION The eukaryotic nucleus pro-tects the genome and is enclosed by the two membranes of the nuclear envelope. Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) perforate the nuclear envelope to facilitate nucleocytoplasmic transport. With a molecular weight of ∼120 MDa, the human NPC is one of the larg-est protein complexes. Its ~1000 proteins are taken in multiple copies from a set of about 30 distinct nucleoporins (NUPs). They can be roughly categorized into two classes. Scaf-fold NUPs contain folded domains and form a cylindrical scaffold architecture around a central channel. Intrinsically disordered NUPs line the scaffold and extend into the central channel, where they interact with cargo complexes. The NPC architecture is highly dynamic. It responds to changes in nuclear envelope tension with conforma-tional breathing that manifests in dilation and constriction movements. Elucidating the scaffold architecture, ultimately at atomic resolution, will be important for gaining a more precise understanding of NPC function and dynamics but imposes a substantial chal-lenge for structural biologists. RATIONALE Considerable progress has been made toward this goal by a joint effort in the field. A synergistic combination of complementary approaches has turned out to be critical. In situ structural biology techniques were used to reveal the overall layout of the NPC scaffold that defines the spatial reference for molecular modeling. High-resolution structures of many NUPs were determined in vitro. Proteomic analysis and extensive biochemical work unraveled the interaction network of NUPs. Integra-tive modeling has been used to combine the different types of data, resulting in a rough outline of the NPC scaffold. Previous struc-tural models of the human NPC, however, were patchy and limited in accuracy owing to several challenges: (i) Many of the high-resolution structures of individual NUPs have been solved from distantly related species and, consequently, do not comprehensively cover their human counterparts. (ii) The scaf-fold is interconnected by a set of intrinsically disordered linker NUPs that are not straight-forwardly accessible to common structural biology techniques. (iii) The NPC scaffold intimately embraces the fused inner and outer nuclear membranes in a distinctive topol-ogy and cannot be studied in isolation. (iv) The conformational dynamics of scaffold NUPs limits the resolution achievable in structure determination. RESULTS In this study, we used artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction to generate an exten-sive repertoire of structural models of human NUPs and their subcomplexes. The resulting models cover various domains and interfaces that so far remained structurally uncharac-terized. Benchmarking against previous and unpublished x-ray and cryo-electron micros-copy structures revealed unprecedented accu-racy. We obtained well-resolved cryo-electron tomographic maps of both the constricted and dilated conformational states of the hu-man NPC. Using integrative modeling, we fit-ted the structural models of individual NUPs into the cryo-electron microscopy maps. We explicitly included several linker NUPs and traced their trajectory through the NPC scaf-fold. We elucidated in great detail how mem-brane-associated and transmembrane NUPs are distributed across the fusion topology of both nuclear membranes. The resulting architectural model increases the structural coverage of the human NPC scaffold by about twofold. We extensively validated our model against both earlier and new experimental data. The completeness of our model has enabled microsecond-long coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of the NPC scaffold within an explicit membrane en-vironment and solvent. These simulations reveal that the NPC scaffold prevents the constriction of the otherwise stable double-membrane fusion pore to small diameters in the absence of membrane tension. CONCLUSION Our 70-MDa atomically re-solved model covers >90% of the human NPC scaffold. It captures conforma-tional changes that occur during dilation and constriction. It also reveals the precise anchoring sites for intrinsically disordered NUPs, the identification of which is a prerequisite for a complete and dy-namic model of the NPC. Our study exempli-fies how AI-based structure prediction may accelerate the elucidation of subcellular ar-chitecture at atomic resolution. [Figure: see text].

The Nuclear Pore Complex: Birth, Life, and Death of a Cellular Behemoth

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are the only transport channels that cross the nuclear envelope. Constructed from ~500-1000 nucleoporin proteins each, they are among the largest macromolecular assemblies in eukaryotic cells. Thanks to advances in structural analysis approaches, the construction principles and architecture of the NPC have recently been revealed at submolecular resolution. Although the overall structure and inventory of nucleoporins are conserved, NPCs exhibit significant compositional and functional plasticity even within single cells and surprising variability in their assembly pathways. Once assembled, NPCs remain seemingly unexchangeable in post-mitotic cells. There are a number of as yet unresolved questions about how the versatility of NPC assembly and composition is established, how cells monitor the functional state of NPCs or how they could be renewed. Here, we review current progress in our understanding of the key aspects of NPC architecture and lifecycle.

Near-atomic structure of the inner ring of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae nuclear pore complex

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate bidirectional nucleocytoplasmic transport of substances in eukaryotic cells. However, the accurate molecular arrangement of NPCs remains enigmatic owing to their huge size and highly dynamic nature. Here we determined the structure of the asymmetric unit of the inner ring (IR monomer) at 3.73 Å resolution by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, and created an atomic model of the intact IR consisting of 192 molecules of 8 nucleoporins. In each IR monomer, the Z-shaped Nup188–Nup192 complex in the middle layer is sandwiched by two approximately parallel rhomboidal structures in the inner and outer layers, while Nup188, Nup192 and Nic96 link all subunits to constitute a relatively stable IR monomer. In contrast, the intact IR is assembled by loose and instable interactions between IR monomers. These structures, together with previously reported structural information of IR, reveal two distinct interaction modes between IR monomers and extensive flexible connections in IR assembly, providing a structural basis for the stability and malleability of IR.

On the nuclear pore complex and its emerging role in cellular mechanotransduction

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a large protein assembly that perforates the nuclear envelope and provides a sole gateway for traffic between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The NPC controls the nucleocytoplasmic transport by selectively allowing cargoes such as proteins and mRNA to pass through its central channel, thereby playing a vital role in protecting the nuclear component and regulating gene expression and protein synthesis. The selective transport through the NPC originates from its exquisite molecular structure featuring a large scaffold and the intrinsically disordered central channel domain, but the exact mechanism underlying the selective transport remains elusive and is the subject of various, often conflicting, hypotheses. Moreover, recent studies have suggested a new role for the NPC as a mechanosensor, where the NPC changes its channel diameter depending on the nuclear envelope tension, altering the molecular transportability through this nanopore. In this mini-review, we summarize the current understandings of the selective nature of the NPC and discuss its emerging role in cellular mechanotransduction.

Ndc1 drives nuclear pore complex assembly independent of membrane biogenesis to promote nuclear formation and growth

The nuclear envelope (NE) assembles and grows from bilayer lipids produced at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). How ER membrane incorporation coordinates with assembly of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) to generate a functional NE is not well understood. Here, we use the stereotypical first division of the early C. elegans embryo to test the role of the membrane-associated nucleoporin Ndc1 in coupling NPC assembly to NE formation and growth. 3D-EM tomography of reforming and expanded NEs establishes that Ndc1 determines NPC density. Loss of ndc1 results in faster turnover of the outer scaffold nucleoporin Nup160 at the NE, providing an explanation for how Ndc1 controls NPC number. NE formation fails in the absence of both Ndc1 and the inner ring component Nup53, suggesting partially redundant roles in NPC assembly. Importantly, upregulation of membrane synthesis restored the slow rate of nuclear growth resulting from loss of ndc1 but not from loss of nup53. Thus, membrane biogenesis can be decoupled from Ndc1-mediated NPC assembly to promote nuclear growth. Together, our data suggest that Ndc1 functions in parallel with Nup53 and membrane biogenesis to control NPC density and nuclear size.

Nuclear Pore Complex Assembly Using Xenopus Egg Extract

Xenopus egg extract is a powerful tool for the in vitro investigation of complex cellular mechanisms. Here we describe how to obtain and employ interphase Xenopus egg extract to study nuclear pore complex assembly and how to analyze the process using Western blot or immunofluorescence based assays. The function of proteins can be conveniently assayed by high-efficient antibody mediated depletion.

Dunking into the Lipid Bilayer: How Direct Membrane Binding of Nucleoporins Can Contribute to Nuclear Pore Complex Structure and Assembly

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate the selective and highly efficient transport between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. They are embedded in the two membrane structure of the nuclear envelope at sites where these two membranes are fused to pores. A few transmembrane proteins are an integral part of NPCs and thought to anchor these complexes in the nuclear envelope. In addition, a number of nucleoporins without membrane spanning domains interact with the pore membrane. Here we review our current knowledge of how these proteins interact with the membrane and how this interaction can contribute to NPC assembly, stability and function as well as shaping of the pore membrane.

The Great Escape: mRNA Export through the Nuclear Pore Complex

Nuclear export of messenger RNA (mRNA) through the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is an indispensable step to ensure protein translation in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. mRNA is not translocated on its own, but it forms ribonuclear particles (mRNPs) in association with proteins that are crucial for its metabolism, some of which; like Mex67/MTR2-NXF1/NXT1; are key players for its translocation to the cytoplasm. In this review, I will summarize our current body of knowledge on the basic characteristics of mRNA export through the NPC. To be granted passage, the mRNP cargo needs to bind transport receptors, which facilitate the nuclear export. During NPC transport, mRNPs undergo compositional and conformational changes. The interactions between mRNP and the central channel of NPC are described; together with the multiple quality control steps that mRNPs undergo at the different rings of the NPC to ensure only proper export of mature transcripts to the cytoplasm. I conclude by mentioning new opportunities that arise from bottom up approaches for a mechanistic understanding of nuclear export.

One Ring to Rule them All? Structural and Functional Diversity in the Nuclear Pore Complex

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the massive protein assembly that regulates the transport of macromolecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Recent breakthroughs have provided major insights into the structure of the NPC in different eukaryotes, revealing a previously unsuspected diversity of NPC architectures. In parallel, the NPC has been shown to be a key player in regulating essential nuclear processes such as chromatin organization, gene expression, and DNA repair. However, our knowledge of the NPC structure has not been able to address the molecular mechanisms underlying its regulatory roles. We discuss potential explanations, including the coexistence of alternative NPC architectures with specific functional roles.

Biallelic loss of function NEK3 mutations deacetylate α-tubulin and downregulate NUP205 that predispose individuals to cilia-related abnormal cardiac left-right patterning

Defective left–right (LR) organization involving abnormalities in cilia ultrastructure causes laterality disorders including situs inversus (SI) and heterotaxy (Htx) with the prevalence approximately 1/10,000 births. In this study, we describe two unrelated family trios with abnormal cardiac LR patterning. Through whole-exome sequencing (WES), we identified compound heterozygous mutations (c.805-1G >C; p. Ile269GlnfsTer8/c.1117dupA; p.Thr373AsnfsTer19) (c.29T>C; p.Ile10Thr/c.356A>G; p.His119Arg) of NEK3, encoding a NIMA (never in mitosis A)-related kinase, in two affected individuals, respectively. Protein levels of NEK3 were abrogated in Patient-1 with biallelic loss-of function (LoF) NEK3 mutations that causes premature stop codon. Subsequence transcriptome analysis revealed that NNMT (nicotinamide N-methyltransferase) and SIRT2 (sirtuin2) was upregulated by NEK3 knockdown in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in vitro, which associates α-tubulin deacetylation by western blot and immunofluorescence. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis further identified defective ciliary ultrastructure in Patient-1. Furthermore, inner ring components of nuclear pore complex (NPC) including nucleoporin (NUP)205, NUP188, and NUP155 were significantly downregulated in NEK3-silenced cells. In conclusion, we identified biallelic mutations of NEK3 predispose individual to abnormal cardiac left–right patterning via SIRT2-mediated α-tubulin deacetylation and downregulation of inner ring nucleoporins. Our study suggested that NEK3 could be a candidate gene for human ciliopathies.

Protein Subdomain Enrichment of NUP155 Variants Identify a Novel Predicted Pathogenic Hotspot

Functional variants in nuclear envelope genes are implicated as underlying causes of cardiopathology. To examine the potential association of single nucleotide variants of nucleoporin genes with cardiac disease, we employed a prognostic scoring approach to investigate variants of NUP155, a nucleoporin gene clinically linked with atrial fibrillation. Here we implemented bioinformatic profiling and predictive scoring, based on the gnomAD, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-Exome Sequencing Project (NHLBI-ESP) Exome Variant Server, and dbNSFP databases to identify rare single nucleotide variants (SNVs) of NUP155 potentially associated with cardiopathology. This predictive scoring revealed 24 SNVs of NUP155 as potentially cardiopathogenic variants located primarily in the N-terminal crescent-shaped domain of NUP155. In addition, a predicted NUP155 R672G variant prioritized in our study was mapped to a region within the alpha helical stack of the crescent domain of NUP155. Bioinformatic analysis of inferred protein-protein interactions of NUP155 revealed over representation of top functions related to molecular transport, RNA trafficking, and RNA post-transcriptional modification. Topology analysis revealed prioritized hubs critical for maintaining network integrity and informational flow that included FN1, SIRT7, and CUL7 with nodal enrichment of RNA helicases in the topmost enriched subnetwork. Furthermore, integration of the top 5 subnetworks to capture network topology of an expanded framework revealed that FN1 maintained its hub status, with elevation of EED, CUL3, and EFTUD2. This is the first study to report novel discovery of a NUP155 subdomain hotspot that enriches for allelic variants of NUP155 predicted to be clinically damaging, and supports a role for RNA metabolism in cardiac disease and development.

Biallelic Variants in the Nuclear Pore Complex Protein NUP93 Are Associated with Non-progressive Congenital Ataxia

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are the gateways of the nuclear envelope mediating transport between cytoplasm and nucleus. They form huge complexes of 125 MDa in vertebrates and consist of about 30 different nucleoporins present in multiple copies in each complex. Here, we describe pathogenic variants in the nucleoporin 93 (NUP93) associated with an autosomal recessive form of congenital ataxia. Two rare compound heterozygous variants of NUP93 were identified by whole exome sequencing in two brothers with isolated cerebellar atrophy: one missense variant (p.R537W) results in a protein which does not localize to NPCs and cannot functionally replace the wild type protein, whereas the variant (p.F699L) apparently supports NPC assembly. In addition to its recently described pathological role in steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, our work identifies NUP93 as a candidate gene for non-progressive congenital ataxia.

Molecular assay for an intronic variant in NUP93 that causes steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome

Advances in molecular genetics have revealed that approximately 30% of cases with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) are caused by single-gene mutations. More than 50 genes are responsible for SRNS. One such gene is the nucleoporin, 93-KD (NUP93). Thus far, few studies have reported mutations of NUP93 in SRNS. Here, we describe an NUP93 biallelic mutation in a 9-year-old boy with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS). Notably, one mutation comprised an intronic variant; we conducted in vivo and in vitro analysis to characterize this variant. We found two heterozygous mutations in NUP93: c.2137-18G>A in intron 19 and a novel nonsense mutation c.727A>T (p.Lys243*) in exon 8. We conducted RNA sequencing and in vitro splicing assays by using minigene construction, combined with protein expression analysis to determine the pathogenicity of the intronic variant. Both RNA sequencing and in vitro splicing assay showed exon 20-skipping by the intronic variant. In protein expression analysis, aberrant subcellular localization with small punctate vesicles in the cytoplasm was observed for the intronic variant. Taken together, we concluded that c.2137-18G>A was linked to pathogenicity due to aberrant splicing. NUP93 variants are quite rare; however, we have shown that even intronic variants in NUP93 can cause SRNS. This study provides a fundamental approach to validate the intronic variant, as well as new insights regarding the clinical spectrum of SRNS caused by rare gene variants.

Structure and Assembly of the Nuclear Pore Complex

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate nucleocytoplasmic exchange. They are exceptionally large protein complexes that fuse the inner and outer nuclear membranes to form channels across the nuclear envelope. About 30 different protein components, termed nucleoporins, assemble in multiple copies into an intricate cylindrical architecture. Here, we review our current knowledge of the structure of nucleoporins and how those come together in situ. We delineate architectural principles on several hierarchical organization levels, including isoforms, posttranslational modifications, nucleoporins, and higher-order oligomerization of nucleoporin subcomplexes. We discuss how cells exploit this modularity to faithfully assemble NPCs.

NUP155 insufficiency recalibrates a pluripotent transcriptome with network remodeling of a cardiogenic signaling module

BACKGROUND

Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac disease driven by numerous idiopathic etiologies. NUP155 is a nuclear pore complex protein that has been identified as a clinical driver of atrial fibrillation, yet the precise mechanism is unknown. The present study employs a systems biology algorithm to identify effects of NUP155 disruption on cardiogenicity in a model of stem cell-derived differentiation.

METHODS

Embryonic stem (ES) cell lines (n = 5) with truncated NUP155 were cultured in parallel with wild type (WT) ES cells (n = 5), and then harvested for RNAseq. Samples were run on an Illumina HiSeq 2000. Reads were analyzed using Strand NGS, Cytoscape, DAVID and Ingenuity Pathways Analysis to deconvolute the NUP155-disrupted transcriptome. Network topological analysis identified key features that controlled framework architecture and functional enrichment.

RESULTS

In NUP155 truncated ES cells, significant expression changes were detected in 326 genes compared to WT. These genes segregated into clusters that enriched for specific gene ontologies. Deconvolution of the collective framework into discrete sub-networks identified a module with the highest score that enriched for Cardiovascular System Development, and revealed NTRK1/TRKA and SRSF2/SC35 as critical hubs within this cardiogenic module.

CONCLUSIONS

The strategy of pluripotent transcriptome deconvolution used in the current study identified a novel association of NUP155 with potential drivers of arrhythmogenic AF. Here, NUP155 regulates cardioplasticity of a sub-network embedded within a larger framework of genome integrity, and exemplifies how transcriptome cardiogenicity in an embryonic stem cell genome is recalibrated by nucleoporin dysfunction.