Scientists at EMBL and MPI of Biophysics created the most complete model of the human nuclear pore complex (NPC) thanks to combining AI with experimental and computational techniques.
The NPC is a doughnut-shaped molecular complex consisting of 30 different proteins arranged in ca. 1000 copies. It weighs 120 MDa, which in the cellular scale is enormous.
The NPC sits on the membrane separating the nucleus from the cytoplasm and works as both a gateway and a checkpoint for molecules that travel between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Thereby, the NPC facilitates fundamental processes in the cell, such as gene expression and translation. It also plays a role in several diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and viral infections.
Find out more:
Puzzling out the structure of a molecular giant:
https://www.embl.org/news/science/puzzling-out-the-structure-of-a-molecular-giant/Computational protein design and protein structure prediction win the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry:
https://www.embl.org/news/science-technology/alphafold-wins-nobel-prize-chemistry-2024/Credit:
Animation: Agnieszka Obarska-Kosińska/EMBL and MPI of Biophysics
Text and editing: Dorota Badowska/EMBL
© European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Max Planck Institute of Biophysics