Skip to main content

Reconstitution of Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Using Digitonin-Permeabilized Cells

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Nuclear Bodies and Noncoding RNAs

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1262))

Abstract

Nucleocytoplasmic transport is crucial not only for basic cellular activities but also for the physiological adaptation of cells to various environmental stimuli that affect development, cell-fate determination, or disease development. The basic transport mechanisms have been revealed during the past two decades through the identification and biochemical characterizations of factors mediating the transport, dissecting the transport process and examining the function of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). In this chapter, we describe methods for a nuclear transport reconstitution assay using digitonin-permeabilized mammalian cells. The transport assay can be generally conducted in the lab without special equipment. The assay system is efficient and significantly contributes to the study of nucleocytoplasmic transport.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Strambio-De-Castillia C, Niepel M, Rout MP (2010) The nuclear pore complex: bridging nuclear transport and gene regulation. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 11:490–501

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Stewart M (2007) Molecular mechanism of the nuclear protein import cycle. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 8:195–208

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Weis K (2003) Regulating access to the genome: nucleocytoplasmic transport throughout the cell cycle. Cell 112:441–451

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ribbeck K, Lipowsky G, Kent HM, Stewart M, Görlich D (1998) NTF2 mediates nuclear import of Ran. EMBO J 17:6587–6598

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Smith A, Brownawell A, Macara IG (1998) Nuclear import of Ran is mediated by the transport factor NTF2. Curr Biol 8:1403–1406

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Kose S, Furuta M, Imamoto N (2012) Hikeshi, a nuclear import carrier for Hsp70s, protects cells from heat shock-induced nuclear damage. Cell 149:578–589

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Adam SA, Marr RS, Gerace L (1990) Nuclear protein import in permeabilized mammalian cells requires soluble cytoplasmic factors. J Cell Biol 111:807–816

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Chi NC, Adam EJ, Adam SA (1995) Sequence and characterization of cytoplasmic nuclear protein import factor p97. J Cell Biol 130:265–274

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Görlich D, Prehn S, Laskey RA, Hartmann E (1994) Isolation of a protein that is essential for the first step of nuclear protein import. Cell 79:767–778

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Görlich D, Kostka S, Kraft R, Dingwall C, Laskey RA, Hartmann E, Prehn S (1995) Two different subunits of importin cooperate to recognize nuclear localization signals and bind them to the nuclear envelope. Curr Biol 5:383–392

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Imamoto N, Shimamoto T, Kose S, Takao T, Tachibana T, Matsubae M, Sekimoto T, Shimonishi Y, Yoneda Y (1995) The nuclear pore-targeting complex binds to nuclear pores after association with a karyophile. FEBS Lett 368:415–419

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Imamoto N, Shimamoto T, Takao T, Tachibana T, Kose S, Matsubae M, Sekimoto T, Shimonishi Y, Yoneda Y (1995) In vivo evidence for involvement of a 58 kDa component of nuclear pore-targeting complex in nuclear protein import. EMBO J 14:3617–3626

    CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Weis K, Mattaj IW, Lamond AI (1995) Identification of hSRP1α as a functional receptor for nuclear localization sequences. Science 268:1049–1053

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ribbeck K, Görlich D (2001) Kinetic analysis of translocation through nuclear pore complexes. EMBO J 20:1320–1330

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kosako H, Yamaguchi N, Aranami C, Ushiyama M, Kose S, Imamoto N, Taniguchi H, Nishida E, Hattori S (2009) Phosphoproteomics reveals new ERK MAP kinase targets and links ERK to nucleoporin-mediated nuclear transport. Nat Struct Mol Biol 16:1026–1035

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ogawa Y, Miyamoto Y, Oka M, Yoneda Y (2012) The interaction between importin-α and Nup153 promotes importin-α/β-mediated nuclear import. Traffic 13:934–946

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Tu LC, Musser SM (2011) Single molecule studies of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Biochim Biophys Acta 1813:1607–1618

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Görlich D, Kutay U (1999) Transport between the cell nucleus and the cytoplasm. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 15:607–660

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Macara IG (2001) Transport into and out of the nucleus. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 65:570–594

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Lindsay ME, Plafker K, Smith AE, Clurman BE, Macara IG (2002) Npap60/Nup50 is a tri-stable switch that stimulates importin-α:β-mediated nuclear protein import. Cell 110:349–360

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Kimura M, Okumura N, Kose S, Takao T, Imamoto N (2013) Identification of cargo proteins specific for importin-β with importin-α applying a stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based in vitro transport system. J Biol Chem 288:24540–24549

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kimura M, Kose S, Okumura N, Imai K, Furuta M, Sakiyama N, Tomii K, Horton P, Takao T, Imamoto N (2013) Identification of cargo proteins specific for the nucleocytoplasmic transport carrier transportin by combination of an in vitro transport system and stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based quantitative proteomics. Mol Cell Proteomics 12:145–157

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Tokunaga M, Imamoto N, Sakata-Sogawa K (2008) Highly inclined thin illumination enables clear single-molecule imaging in cells. Nat Methods 5:159–161

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the members of the Cellular Dynamics Laboratory. Our work was supported by RIKEN Special Project Funding for Basic Science in Cellular System Project Research, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through the “Funding Program for Next Generation World-Leading Researchers (NEXT Program),” initiated by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) to N.I., and MEXT grants-in-aid to S.K. and T.F.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naoko Imamoto .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Kose, S., Funakoshi, T., Imamoto, N. (2015). Reconstitution of Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Using Digitonin-Permeabilized Cells. In: Nakagawa, S., Hirose, T. (eds) Nuclear Bodies and Noncoding RNAs. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1262. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2253-6_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2253-6_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2252-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2253-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics