Nuclear shape-shifters: Lipid and Protein Dynamics at the Nuclear Envelope

Abstract

The nuclear envelope constitutes a selective barrier that segregates chromatin into the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. This property makes the nuclear envelope the defining morphological characteristic of the eukaryotic lineage. For many years, cell biology textbooks painted a rather inert view of the nuclear envelope as a smooth, centrally located, perinuclear circle, busy mediating the bidirectional trafficking of proteins and RNA through nuclear pore complexes. Recent research in the field is now transforming our understanding of the nuclear envelope as a highly dynamic organelle that can undergo extensive local remodeling during physiological processes such as nuclear division or de novo nuclear pore biogenesis as well as repairing itself during cell migration or mechanical insults. The seven articles in this special issue tackle different aspects of how membrane lipid metabolism and the regulation of nuclear envelope protein components like lamins and nuclear pore complexes safeguard the homeostasis of the nucleus