研究人员利用单粒子冷冻电镜和AlphaFold预测法，确定了爪哇鱼卵母细胞核孔复合体（NPC）的近乎完整的细胞质环结构。研究人员用AlphaFold预测了核蛋白的结构，并以突出的二级结构密度为指导与中分辨率图进行了匹配。通过使用AlphaFold的复合物预测，研究人员进一步建立或确认了某些分子的相互作用。
研究人员确定了五份Nup358的结合模式，Nup358是最大的NPC亚单位，具有Phe-Gly重复序列，用于货物运输，并预测它含有一个盘绕结构域，可能提供亲和力来协助其在某些条件下作为NPC形成的成核中心作用。
据介绍，NPC是细胞质和细胞核之间双向货物运输的管道。
附：英文原文
Title: Structure of cytoplasmic ring of nuclear pore complex by integrative cryo-EM and AlphaFold
Author: Pietro Fontana, Ying Dong, Xiong Pi, Alexander B. Tong, Corey W. Hecksel, Longfei Wang, Tian-Min Fu, Carlos Bustamante, Hao Wu
Issue&Volume: 2022-06-10
Abstract: The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the conduit for bidirectional cargo traffic between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. We determined a near-complete structure of the cytoplasmic ring of the NPC from Xenopus oocytes using single-particle cryo–electron microscopy and AlphaFold prediction. Structures of nucleoporins were predicted with AlphaFold and fit into the medium-resolution map by using the prominent secondary structural density as a guide. Certain molecular interactions were further built or confirmed by complex prediction by using AlphaFold. We identified the binding modes of five copies of Nup358, the largest NPC subunit with Phe-Gly repeats for cargo transport, and predicted it to contain a coiled-coil domain that may provide avidity to assist its role as a nucleation center for NPC formation under certain conditions.
DOI: abm9326
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm9326