Charge as a Selection Criterion for Translocation through the Nuclear Pore Complex
Name
Ribbeck-2011-Charge as a Selection Criterion.pdf
Size
1.55 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
9b197b04407cf2bda2e2bbc5cd270653
Author(s)
Colwell, Lucy J.
Brenner, Michael P.
Ribbeck, Katharina
Date Issued
April 2010
Journal
PloS Computational Biology
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Citation
Colwell, Lucy J., Brenner, Michael P., Ribbeck, Katharina. "Charge as a Selection Criterion for Translocation through the Nuclear Pore Complex." PLoS Comput Biol (2010) 6(4): e1000747.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are highly selective filters that control the exchange of material between nucleus and cytoplasm. The principles that govern selective filtering by NPCs are not fully understood. Previous studies find that cellular proteins capable of fast translocation through NPCs (transport receptors) are characterized by a high proportion of hydrophobic surface regions. Our analysis finds that transport receptors and their complexes are also highly negatively charged. Moreover, NPC components that constitute the permeability barrier are positively charged. We estimate that electrostatic interactions between a transport receptor and the NPC result in an energy gain of several kBT, which would enable significantly increased translocation rates of transport receptors relative to other cellular proteins. We suggest that negative charge is an essential criterion for selective passage through the NPC.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
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Creative Commons Attribution
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000747
