Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Brohawn, Stephen Graf
Other Authors: Thomas U. Schwartz.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58396
_version_ 1811095000792956928
author Brohawn, Stephen Graf
author2 Thomas U. Schwartz.
author_facet Thomas U. Schwartz.
Brohawn, Stephen Graf
author_sort Brohawn, Stephen Graf
collection MIT
description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T16:08:56Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/58396
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T16:08:56Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/583962019-04-12T12:13:37Z Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats Brohawn, Stephen Graf Thomas U. Schwartz. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Biology. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-169). Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are massive protein assemblies that perforate the nuclear envelope and form the exclusive passageway for nucleocytoplasmic transport. NPCs play critical roles in molecular transport and a myriad of other cellular processes. Elucidation of the structure of the NPC is thus expected to provide important insight into cell biology. In this thesis, I investigate the structure of a key subcomplex of the NPC and discuss the evolutionary relationship between the NPC and COPIl vesicle coats it illustrates. The NPC is a modular assembly, with a stable structural scaffold supporting dynamically attached components. The structural scaffold is constructed from multiple copies of the Y-shaped complex and the Nic96 complex. We solved the crystal structure of the heterodimeric Nup85-Sehl module that forms a short arm in the Y complex. Nup85 is found to contain a conserved fold, the ancestral coatomer element 1 (ACE1), also present in three other components of the NPC and in the COPI vesicle coat, providing structural evidence of coevolution from a common ancestor. Sec3l ACE1 units interact to form edge elements in the COPI lattice. Using structural knowledge of this edge element, we identified corresponding interactions between ACE1 proteins Nup84 and Nup145C in the NPC. We solved the crystal structure of the heterotrimeric Nup84-Nupl 45C-Secl 3 module that forms the top of the long arm in the Y complex. The heterotypic ACE1 interaction of Nup145C and Nup84 is analogous to the homotypic Sec31 edge element interaction in the COPIl coat. From these and other structures, we assemble a near complete structural model of the Y complex. Further, based on the demonstrated relationship with the COPIl coatomer lattice, we propose a lattice model for the entire NPC scaffold. The common architectural principles of the edge elements in the NPC and COPI lead us to predict that Y complexes will be arranged as struts in the NPC lattice. In this manner, Nup84-Nup145C edge elements are arranged parallel to the transport axis to stabilize the positively curved nuclear envelope. From a lattice model of the NPC follow hypotheses for how other components are integrated into and function within the NPC. by Stephen Graf Brohawn. Ph.D. 2010-09-03T18:35:07Z 2010-09-03T18:35:07Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58396 654109236 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 169 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Biology.
Brohawn, Stephen Graf
Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title_full Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title_fullStr Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title_full_unstemmed Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title_short Structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and COPIl vesicle coats
title_sort structural elucidation of a common architecture of the nuclear pore complex and copil vesicle coats
topic Biology.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58396
work_keys_str_mv AT brohawnstephengraf structuralelucidationofacommonarchitectureofthenuclearporecomplexandcopilvesiclecoats