Journal
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
Volume 6, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000747
Keywords
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Funding
- Merck
- National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences
- Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University
- NIGMS [GM068763]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Mathematical Sciences [907985] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are highly selective filters that control the exchange of material between nucleus and cytoplasm. The principles that govern selective filtering by NPCs are not fully understood. Previous studies find that cellular proteins capable of fast translocation through NPCs ( transport receptors) are characterized by a high proportion of hydrophobic surface regions. Our analysis finds that transport receptors and their complexes are also highly negatively charged. Moreover, NPC components that constitute the permeability barrier are positively charged. We estimate that electrostatic interactions between a transport receptor and the NPC result in an energy gain of several k(B)T, which would enable significantly increased translocation rates of transport receptors relative to other cellular proteins. We suggest that negative charge is an essential criterion for selective passage through the NPC.
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