Nuclear pore number manipulation could lead to a new method of treating cancer

Researchers at the Salk Institute have found a way to manipulate the number of nuclear pores present in the perimeter of the nucleus.

Some cancer cells have an increased number of nuclear pores and this study could help researchers find solutions to prevent cancer cells from multiplying.

Cells with Tpr protein (top row) have fewer nuclear pores than cells without protein (bottom row). The right column shows a close-up of the pore density, with many more pores appearing in the absence of Tpr (bottom left). Credit: Salk Institute

"Previously, we did not have the tools to artificially increase nuclear pores," says lead author Martin Hetzer. He adds that the study could provide a way to determine what are the consequences of increasing the number of nuclear pores in a healthy cell to mimic those found in cancer cells.

Nuclear pores are transport channels that allow cellular materials to enter and exit the nucleus, and they are involved in thousands of events per second. They are made from multiple copies of proteins called nucleoporins.

As reported in the newspaper Genes and DevelopmentHetzer and his team have analyzed the nucleoporin Tpr, implicated in some cancers.

The researchers found that each nuclear pore in a cell is unique and that each nucleus has a specific number of pores. The team then removed Tpr to see what effect it had on the number of pores.

Hetzer and his colleagues were surprised to find that the number of nuclear pores had increased dramatically.

Generally, when you "destroy" or remove some of the proteins that make up the nuclear pore complex, the total number of nuclear pores decreases. Our surprising discovery was that when we get rid of the nucleoporin Tpr, the number of nuclear pores has increased considerably "

First author Asako McCloskey

Hetzer says that it is the first time that changing a component in nuclear pores causes an increase in the number of pores.

The discovery suggests that Tpr is not only involved in transport but in controlling the assembly of nuclear pores. The discovery could be crucial for researchers trying to manipulate the number of nuclear pores in their search for treatments.

Then, the team plans to use this approach to identify the effects of manipulating nuclear pore numbers in a range of cell types.