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Review
. 2007 Sep;3(9):583-9.
doi: 10.1039/b703878j. Epub 2007 Jul 16.

Communication between the cytoskeleton and the nuclear envelope to position the nucleus

Daniel A Starr  1
Affiliations
Review

Communication between the cytoskeleton and the nuclear envelope to position the nucleus

Daniel A Starr. Mol Biosyst. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

In most eukaryotic cells, the nucleus is localized to a specific location. This highlight article focuses on recent advances describing the mechanisms of nuclear migration and anchorage. Central to nuclear positioning mechanisms is the communication between the nuclear envelope and the cytoskeleton. All three components of the cytoskeleton-microtubules, actin filaments and intermediate filaments-are involved in nuclear positioning to varying degrees in different cell types. KASH proteins on the outer nuclear membrane connect to SUN proteins on the inner nuclear membrane. Together they transfer forces between the cytoskeleton and the nuclear lamina. Once at the outer nuclear membrane, KASH proteins can interact with the cytoskeleton. Nuclear migrations are a component of many cellular migration events and defects in nuclear positioning lead to human diseases, most notably lissencephaly.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Nuclear anchorage is aberrant in desmin knockout mouse myotubes. A skeletal muscle fiber from a desmin knockout mouse is stained with Hoechst to detect nuclei. Arrows indicate areas lacking nuclei and arrowheads mark large nuclear aggregates. One cluster is magnified in the inset. A portion of a wildtype myotube is shown on the left. Copyright © 2006, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with premission of Wiley-Liss, Inc., a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, inc
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
KASH and SUN proteins bridge the nuclear envelope and connect the cytoskeleton to the nucleus. Proteins with SUN domains (red) localize to the inner nuclear membrane (INM) and proteins with KASH domains (purple) localize to the outer nuclear membrane (ONM). Various KASH/SUN interactions from different organisms are depicted here. From left to right: the ANC-1/MSP-300/Syne family connects actin to the ONM, C. elegans UNC-83 and UNC-84 function during nuclear migration by unknown mechanisms, Drosophila Klar mediates dynein and is necessary to link the centrosome to the ONM, unrelated C. elegans ZYG-12 dimerizes to connect the centrosome to the ONM, S. pombe Sad1p and Kms1p transfer the forces from cytoplasmic dynein to move telomeres at the INM, and human Nesprin-3 connects intermediate filaments to the ONM. For more details, see text.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The ANC-1/MSP-300/Syne-1 family of proteins function to anchor nuclei. (A–B) Normarski microscopy images of C. elegans syncytial hypodermal cells from wildtype (A) and anc-1 mutant (B) adults. Normally, the nuclei (black arrowheads) are evenly spaced apart whereas in the anc-1 mutant animals nuclei float freely through the syncytium. (Reproduced with permission from ref..) (C–D) Fluorescent images showing GFP-histone marked nuclei in stage 10A developing Drosophila oocytes from wildtype (C) and msp-300 mutant (D) ovaries. In the msp-300 mutant ovary, nurse cells are misplaced; one (arrow) is in the oocyte cytoplasm. The oocyte nucleus (arrowhead) is also mispositioned. Reproduced with permission from ref. , copyright Elsevier (2006). (E–F) Fluorescent images showing nuclei in a single mouse muscle fiber from heterozygous control siblings (E) or homozygous Syne-1KASH knockout mice (F). In control fibers the nuclei are evenly spaced apart while in the mutant fiber the nuclei cluster. (Reproduced with permission of the Company of Biologists from ref. .)
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