Expansion of the nucleoplasmic reticulum requires the coordinated activity of lamins and CTP : phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase alpha

The nucleoplasmic reticulum (NR), a nuclear membrane network implicated in signaling and transport, is formed by the biosynthetic and membrane curvature-inducing properties of the rate-limiting enzyme in phosphatidylcholine synthesis, CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCT) alpha. The NR is formed by invagination of the nuclear envelope and has an underlying lamina that may contribute to membrane tubule formation or stability. In this study we investigated the role of lamins A and B in NR formation in response to expression and activation of endogenous and fluorescent protein-tagged CCT alpha. Similarly to endogenous CCT alpha, CCT-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reversibly translocated to nuclear tubules projecting from the NE in response to oleate, a lipid promoter of CCT membrane binding. Coexpression and RNA interference experiments revealed that both CCT alpha and lamin A and B were necessary for NR proliferation. Expression of CCT-GFP mutants with compromised membrane-binding affinity produced fewer nuclear tubules, indicating that the membrane-binding function of CCT alpha promotes the expansion of the NR. Proliferation of atypical bundles of nuclear membrane tubules by a CCT alpha mutant that constitutively associated with membranes revealed that expansion of the double-bilayer NR requires the coordinated assembly of an underlying lamin scaffold and induction of membrane curvature by CCT alpha.