FUNCTION OF THE NUCLEAR PORE COMPLEX-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN, MLP2P

Rockefeller University, New York NY

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The two yeast proteins Mlp1p and Mlp2p (homologues of the vertebrate protein Tpr) are filamentous proteins attached to the nuclear face of nuclear pore complexes. Here we perform a proteomic analysis, which reveals that the two Mlps have strikingly different interacting partners, testifying to their different roles within the cell. We find that Mlp2p binds directly to Spc110p, Spc42p, and Spc29p, which are three core components of the spindle pole body (SPB), the nuclear envelope-associated yeast spindle organizer. We further show that SPB function is compromised in mlp2 mutants. Cells lacking Mlp2p form significantly smaller SPBs, accumulate aberrant SPB component-containing structures inside the nucleus, and have stochastic failures of cell division. In addition, depletion of Mlp2p is synthetically lethal with mutants impaired in SPB assembly. Based on these data, we propose that Mlp2p links the SPB to the peripheral Mlp assembly, and that this linkage is required for efficient incorporation of components into the SPB. A manuscript describing these findings was published in J Cell Biology. we are continuing these investigations to determine other Mlp-mediated interactions and an additional manuscript is in preparation.