Figure 1.

Landscape of the nuclear envelope. Schematic cross-section of a nuclear envelope illustrating the LINC complex, the nuclear lamina, and the nuclear pore complexes as they relate to one another. The LINC complex is connected to the cytoskeleton by the N-termini of the KASHdomain proteins with their C-termini embedded in the outer nuclear membrane (ONM) of the nuclear envelope. Within the perinuclear space (PNS), the KASH-domain C-term interacts with the C-term of the SUN protein within the inner nuclear membrane (INM). From there, the nucleoplasmic portion of the LINC complex connects to the nuclear lamina that interacts with chromatin as well as the nuclear pore complex. The nuclear lamina is located adjacent to the INM on the nucleoplasmic face where it forms a dynamic meshwork that provides several structural properties to the nucleus, i.e., nuclear stiffness regulated by composition of the nuclear lamina (see text); it serves to anchor nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) through interactions with distinct nucleoporins (nups) in the nuclear basket portion of the NPC; and it functions as a repressive subnuclear compartment. The NPC is a large multiproteinaceous complex that spans the nuclear envelope where the ONM and INM meet and is the main transporter that facilitates nucleocytoplasmic transport between nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments (see text).