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. 1996 Apr 15;15(8):1810–1817.

A 41 amino acid motif in importin-alpha confers binding to importin-beta and hence transit into the nucleus.

D Görlich 1, P Henklein 1, R A Laskey 1, E Hartmann 1
PMCID: PMC450097  PMID: 8617226

Abstract

The complex of importin-alpha and -beta is essential for nuclear protein import. It binds the import substrate in the cytosol, and the resulting trimeric complex moves through the nuclear pores, probably as a single entity. Importin-alpha provides the nuclear localization signal binding site, importin-beta the site of initial docking to the pore. Here we show that the conserved, basic N-terminus of importin-alpha is sufficient for importin-beta binding and essential for protein import. The fusion product of this 41 amino acid domain to a heterologous protein if transported into the nucleus in the same way as full-length importin-alpha itself. Transport is dependent on importin-beta but competed by importin-alpha. As no additional part of importin-alpha is needed for translocation, the movement which drives the import substrate complex into the nucleus appears to be generated between importin-beta and structures of the nuclear pore. The domain that binds to importin-beta appears to confer import only, but not re-export out of the nucleus, suggesting that the return of importin-alpha into the cytoplasm is not a simple reversal of its entry.

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