Nanoelectrochemical Study of Molecular Transport through the Nuclear Pore Complex

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the proteinaceous nanopore that solely mediates the transport of both small molecules and macromolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell to regulate gene expression. In this personal account, we introduce recent progress in our nanoelectrochemical study of molecular transport through the NPC. Our work represents the importance of chemistry in understanding and controlling of NPC-mediated molecular transport to enable the efficient and safe delivery of genetic therapeutics into the nucleus, thereby fundamentally contributing to human health. Specifically, we employ nanoscale scanning electrochemical microscopy to test our hypothesis that the nanopore of the NPC is divided by transport barriers concentrically into peripheral and central routes to efficiently mediate the bimodal traffic of protein transport and RNA export, respectively, through cooperative hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.

Automated summary

The NPC is a proteinaceous nanopore that mediates molecular transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm in eukaryotic cells, regulating gene expression. Our research highlights the importance of chemistry in understanding and controlling NPC-mediated molecular transport for efficient genetic therapeutics delivery into the nucleus, contributing to human health. We use nanoscale scanning electrochemical microscopy to study how the NPC nanopore is divided into peripheral and central routes to facilitate protein transport and RNA export through hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.