Skip to main content
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1988 Oct 1;107(4):1289–1297. doi: 10.1083/jcb.107.4.1289

A monoclonal antibody against the nuclear pore complex inhibits nucleocytoplasmic transport of protein and RNA in vivo

PMCID: PMC2115252  PMID: 2459127

Abstract

A monoclonal antibody that reacts with proteins in the nuclear pore complex of rat liver (Snow, C. M., A. Senior, and L. Gerace. 1987. J. Cell Biol. 104:1143-1156) has been shown to cross react with similar components in Xenopus oocytes, as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoblotting. We have microinjected the antibody into oocytes to study the possible role of these polypeptides in nucleocytoplasmic transport. The antibody inhibits import of a large nuclear protein, nucleoplasmin, in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. It also inhibits export of 5S ribosomal RNA and mature tRNA, but has no effect on transcription or intranuclear tRNA processing. The antibody does not affect the rate of diffusion into the nucleus of two small proteins, myoglobin and ovalbumin, indicating that antibody binding does not result in occlusion of the channel for diffusion. This suggests that inhibition of protein and RNA transport occurs by binding of the antibody at or near components of the pore that participate in mediated transport.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.1 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bolton A. E., Hunter W. M. The labelling of proteins to high specific radioactivities by conjugation to a 125I-containing acylating agent. Biochem J. 1973 Jul;133(3):529–539. doi: 10.1042/bj1330529. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bonner W. M. Protein migration into nuclei. I. Frog oocyte nuclei in vivo accumulate microinjected histones, allow entry to small proteins, and exclude large proteins. J Cell Biol. 1975 Feb;64(2):421–430. doi: 10.1083/jcb.64.2.421. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bonner W. M. Protein migration into nuclei. II. Frog oocyte nuclei accumulate a class of microinjected oocyte nuclear proteins and exclude a class of microinjected oocyte cytoplasmic proteins. J Cell Biol. 1975 Feb;64(2):431–437. doi: 10.1083/jcb.64.2.431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bradford M. M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem. 1976 May 7;72:248–254. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burnette W. N. "Western blotting": electrophoretic transfer of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate--polyacrylamide gels to unmodified nitrocellulose and radiographic detection with antibody and radioiodinated protein A. Anal Biochem. 1981 Apr;112(2):195–203. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(81)90281-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Clarkson S. G., Kurer V., Smith H. O. Sequence organization of a cloned tDNA met fragment from Xenopus laevis. Cell. 1978 Jul;14(3):713–724. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90253-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dabauvalle M. C., Franke W. W. Karyophilic proteins: polypeptides synthesized in vitro accumulate in the nucleus on microinjection into the cytoplasm of amphibian oocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Sep;79(17):5302–5306. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.17.5302. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dabauvalle M. C., Schulz B., Scheer U., Peters R. Inhibition of nuclear accumulation of karyophilic proteins in living cells by microinjection of the lectin wheat germ agglutinin. Exp Cell Res. 1988 Jan;174(1):291–296. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(88)90163-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Davis L. I., Blobel G. Identification and characterization of a nuclear pore complex protein. Cell. 1986 Jun 6;45(5):699–709. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90784-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Davis L. I., Blobel G. Nuclear pore complex contains a family of glycoproteins that includes p62: glycosylation through a previously unidentified cellular pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Nov;84(21):7552–7556. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.21.7552. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. De Robertis E. M., Lienhard S., Parisot R. F. Intracellular transport of microinjected 5S and small nuclear RNAs. Nature. 1982 Feb 18;295(5850):572–577. doi: 10.1038/295572a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. De Robertis E. M., Longthorne R. F., Gurdon J. B. Intracellular migration of nuclear proteins in Xenopus oocytes. Nature. 1978 Mar 16;272(5650):254–256. doi: 10.1038/272254a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. De Robertis E. M. Nucleocytoplasmic segregation of proteins and RNAs. Cell. 1983 Apr;32(4):1021–1025. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90285-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Dingwall C., Dilworth S. M., Black S. J., Kearsey S. E., Cox L. S., Laskey R. A. Nucleoplasmin cDNA sequence reveals polyglutamic acid tracts and a cluster of sequences homologous to putative nuclear localization signals. EMBO J. 1987 Jan;6(1):69–74. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb04720.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Dingwall C., Sharnick S. V., Laskey R. A. A polypeptide domain that specifies migration of nucleoplasmin into the nucleus. Cell. 1982 Sep;30(2):449–458. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90242-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Dumont J. N. Oogenesis in Xenopus laevis (Daudin). I. Stages of oocyte development in laboratory maintained animals. J Morphol. 1972 Feb;136(2):153–179. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1051360203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Dworetzky S. I., Feldherr C. M. Translocation of RNA-coated gold particles through the nuclear pores of oocytes. J Cell Biol. 1988 Mar;106(3):575–584. doi: 10.1083/jcb.106.3.575. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ey P. L., Prowse S. J., Jenkin C. R. Isolation of pure IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b immunoglobulins from mouse serum using protein A-sepharose. Immunochemistry. 1978 Jul;15(7):429–436. doi: 10.1016/0161-5890(78)90070-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Feldherr C. M., Cohen R. J., Ogburn J. A. Evidence for mediated protein uptake by amphibian oocyte nuclei. J Cell Biol. 1983 May;96(5):1486–1490. doi: 10.1083/jcb.96.5.1486. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Feldherr C. M., Kallenbach E., Schultz N. Movement of a karyophilic protein through the nuclear pores of oocytes. J Cell Biol. 1984 Dec;99(6):2216–2222. doi: 10.1083/jcb.99.6.2216. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Finlay D. R., Newmeyer D. D., Price T. M., Forbes D. J. Inhibition of in vitro nuclear transport by a lectin that binds to nuclear pores. J Cell Biol. 1987 Feb;104(2):189–200. doi: 10.1083/jcb.104.2.189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Franke W. W., Scheer U., Krohne G., Jarasch E. D. The nuclear envelope and the architecture of the nuclear periphery. J Cell Biol. 1981 Dec;91(3 Pt 2):39s–50s. doi: 10.1083/jcb.91.3.39s. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. GREENWOOD F. C., HUNTER W. M., GLOVER J. S. THE PREPARATION OF I-131-LABELLED HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE OF HIGH SPECIFIC RADIOACTIVITY. Biochem J. 1963 Oct;89:114–123. doi: 10.1042/bj0890114. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Gall J. G. Octagonal nuclear pores. J Cell Biol. 1967 Feb;32(2):391–399. doi: 10.1083/jcb.32.2.391. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Gerace L., Ottaviano Y., Kondor-Koch C. Identification of a major polypeptide of the nuclear pore complex. J Cell Biol. 1982 Dec;95(3):826–837. doi: 10.1083/jcb.95.3.826. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Hall M. N., Hereford L., Herskowitz I. Targeting of E. coli beta-galactosidase to the nucleus in yeast. Cell. 1984 Apr;36(4):1057–1065. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90055-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Hanover J. A., Cohen C. K., Willingham M. C., Park M. K. O-linked N-acetylglucosamine is attached to proteins of the nuclear pore. Evidence for cytoplasmic and nucleoplasmic glycoproteins. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jul 15;262(20):9887–9894. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Holt G. D., Hart G. W. The subcellular distribution of terminal N-acetylglucosamine moieties. Localization of a novel protein-saccharide linkage, O-linked GlcNAc. J Biol Chem. 1986 Jun 15;261(17):8049–8057. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Holt G. D., Snow C. M., Senior A., Haltiwanger R. S., Gerace L., Hart G. W. Nuclear pore complex glycoproteins contain cytoplasmically disposed O-linked N-acetylglucosamine. J Cell Biol. 1987 May;104(5):1157–1164. doi: 10.1083/jcb.104.5.1157. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Kalderon D., Roberts B. L., Richardson W. D., Smith A. E. A short amino acid sequence able to specify nuclear location. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):499–509. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90457-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Kleinschmidt J. A., Dingwall C., Maier G., Franke W. W. Molecular characterization of a karyophilic, histone-binding protein: cDNA cloning, amino acid sequence and expression of nuclear protein N1/N2 of Xenopus laevis. EMBO J. 1986 Dec 20;5(13):3547–3552. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04681.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Krohne G., Dabauvalle M. C., Franke W. W. Cell type-specific differences in protein composition of nuclear pore complex-lamina structures in oocytes and erythrocytes of Xenopus laevis. J Mol Biol. 1981 Sep 5;151(1):121–141. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90224-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Lanford R. E., Butel J. S. Construction and characterization of an SV40 mutant defective in nuclear transport of T antigen. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):801–813. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90415-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Laskey R. A., Honda B. M., Mills A. D., Finch J. T. Nucleosomes are assembled by an acidic protein which binds histones and transfers them to DNA. Nature. 1978 Oct 5;275(5679):416–420. doi: 10.1038/275416a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Merriam R. W., Hill R. J. The germinal vesicle nucleus of Xenopus laevis oocytes as a selective storage receptacle for proteins. J Cell Biol. 1976 Jun;69(3):659–668. doi: 10.1083/jcb.69.3.659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Newmeyer D. D., Finlay D. R., Forbes D. J. In vitro transport of a fluorescent nuclear protein and exclusion of non-nuclear proteins. J Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;103(6 Pt 1):2091–2102. doi: 10.1083/jcb.103.6.2091. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Newmeyer D. D., Forbes D. J. Nuclear import can be separated into distinct steps in vitro: nuclear pore binding and translocation. Cell. 1988 Mar 11;52(5):641–653. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90402-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Newmeyer D. D., Lucocq J. M., Bürglin T. R., De Robertis E. M. Assembly in vitro of nuclei active in nuclear protein transport: ATP is required for nucleoplasmin accumulation. EMBO J. 1986 Mar;5(3):501–510. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04239.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Paine P. L., Feldherr C. M. Nucleocytoplasmic exchange of macromolecules. Exp Cell Res. 1972 Sep;74(1):81–98. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(72)90483-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Paine P. L., Moore L. C., Horowitz S. B. Nuclear envelope permeability. Nature. 1975 Mar 13;254(5496):109–114. doi: 10.1038/254109a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Paine P. L. Nucleocytoplasmic movement of fluorescent tracers microinjected into living salivary gland cells. J Cell Biol. 1975 Sep;66(3):652–657. doi: 10.1083/jcb.66.3.652. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Peters R. Nucleo-cytoplasmic flux and intracellular mobility in single hepatocytes measured by fluorescence microphotolysis. EMBO J. 1984 Aug;3(8):1831–1836. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02055.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Richardson W. D., Mills A. D., Dilworth S. M., Laskey R. A., Dingwall C. Nuclear protein migration involves two steps: rapid binding at the nuclear envelope followed by slower translocation through nuclear pores. Cell. 1988 Mar 11;52(5):655–664. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90403-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Richardson W. D., Roberts B. L., Smith A. E. Nuclear location signals in polyoma virus large-T. Cell. 1986 Jan 17;44(1):77–85. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90486-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Sakonju S., Bogenhagen D. F., Brown D. D. A control region in the center of the 5S RNA gene directs specific initiation of transcription: I. The 5' border of the region. Cell. 1980 Jan;19(1):13–25. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90384-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Seve A. P., Hubert J., Bouvier D., Masson C., Geraud G., Bouteille M. In situ distribution in different cell types of nuclear glycoconjugates detected by two lectins. J Submicrosc Cytol. 1984 Oct;16(4):631–641. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Snow C. M., Senior A., Gerace L. Monoclonal antibodies identify a group of nuclear pore complex glycoproteins. J Cell Biol. 1987 May;104(5):1143–1156. doi: 10.1083/jcb.104.5.1143. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Stick R., Hausen P. Changes in the nuclear lamina composition during early development of Xenopus laevis. Cell. 1985 May;41(1):191–200. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90073-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Unwin P. N., Milligan R. A. A large particle associated with the perimeter of the nuclear pore complex. J Cell Biol. 1982 Apr;93(1):63–75. doi: 10.1083/jcb.93.1.63. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Wallace R. A., Jared D. W., Dumont J. N., Sega M. W. Protein incorporation by isolated amphibian oocytes. 3. Optimum incubation conditions. J Exp Zool. 1973 Jun;184(3):321–333. doi: 10.1002/jez.1401840305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Wychowski C., Benichou D., Girard M. A domain of SV40 capsid polypeptide VP1 that specifies migration into the cell nucleus. EMBO J. 1986 Oct;5(10):2569–2576. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04536.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Yoneda Y., Imamoto-Sonobe N., Yamaizumi M., Uchida T. Reversible inhibition of protein import into the nucleus by wheat germ agglutinin injected into cultured cells. Exp Cell Res. 1987 Dec;173(2):586–595. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(87)90297-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Zasloff M. tRNA transport from the nucleus in a eukaryotic cell: carrier-mediated translocation process. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Nov;80(21):6436–6440. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.21.6436. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES