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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Oct 2.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Exp Med Biol. 2014;773:435–470. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4899-8032-8_20

Figure 1. Schematic overview of the nuclear structure and the LINC complex.

Figure 1

The nuclear envelope is composed of the inner nuclear membrane (INM) and the outer nuclear membrane (ONM) punctuated by nuclear pore complexes (NPC). The ONM is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Several structures of the nuclear interior are depicted here, including the nucleolus, Cajal bodies, promyelocytic leukemia bodies (PML) and speckles. Chromatin is shown in its two states, very condensed (heterochromatin) and loosely organized (euchromatin). Only a subset of nuclear membrane proteins are portrayed in this picture: lamin B receptor (LBR), emerin, MAN1, and nurim. The schematic also illustrates some of the interactions between these proteins with the lamina meshwork (lamins B and A/C). The LINC complex is represented by nesprins, Sad1p/UNC-84 (SUN) proteins and Samp1. On the outer membrane, nesprin-1 and -2 can directly bind to actin filaments or indirectly interact with microtubules through motors proteins (dyneins or kinesin). Nesprin-3 is shown interacting with intermediate filaments via plectin.