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Intrinsically disordered nuclear pore proteins show ideal-polymer morphologies and dynamics

View ORCID ProfileLuke K. Davis, View ORCID ProfileIan J. Ford, View ORCID ProfileAnđela Šarić, Bart W. Hoogenboom
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/571687
Luke K. Davis
London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London WC1H OAH, United KingdomDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT,United KingdomInstitute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Ian J. Ford
London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London WC1H OAH, United KingdomDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT,United KingdomInstitute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Anđela Šarić
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT,United Kingdom
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Bart W. Hoogenboom
London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London WC1H OAH, United KingdomDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT,United KingdomInstitute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Abstract

In the nuclear pore complex (NPC), intrinsically disordered nuclear pore proteins (FG nups) form a selective barrier for transport into and out of the cell nucleus, in a way that remains poorly understood. The collective FG nup behaviour has long been conceptualized either as a polymer brush, dominated by entropic and excluded-volume (repulsive) interactions, or as a hydrogel, dominated by cohesive (attractive) interactions between FG nups. Here we compare mesoscale computational simulations with experimental data to demonstrate that FG nups are at the crossover point between these two regimes. Specifically, we find that repulsive and attractive interactions are balanced, resulting in morphologies and dynamics that are close to those of ideal polymer chains, where repulsion and attraction are absent. We demonstrate that this yields sufficient cohesion to seal the transport barrier, and yet maintains fast dynamics at the molecular scale, permitting the rapid FG nup rearrangements needed for transport events.

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Posted March 08, 2019.
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Intrinsically disordered nuclear pore proteins show ideal-polymer morphologies and dynamics
Luke K. Davis, Ian J. Ford, Anđela Šarić, Bart W. Hoogenboom
bioRxiv 571687; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/571687
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Intrinsically disordered nuclear pore proteins show ideal-polymer morphologies and dynamics
Luke K. Davis, Ian J. Ford, Anđela Šarić, Bart W. Hoogenboom
bioRxiv 571687; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/571687

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