NUCLEUS

THE BOSS

V.VYTHEESHWARAN

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 THE WWW OF NUCLEUS

WHAT?
WHERE?
WHY?

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 NUCLEUS
• The nucleus is often the most prominent cell
organelle.
• It contains the genome, the cell’s database,
which is encoded in molecules of the nucleic
acid, DNA.
• The nucleus is bounded by a nuclear
envelope composed of two membranes
separated by an inter-membrane space.
• The inner membrane of the nuclear envelope
is lined by a meshwork of proteins

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 NUCLEUS
• Includes
– Nuclear envelope
– Nucleolus
– Nucleoplasm
– Chromatin.
• Contains the genetic
material encoded in
the DNA of
chromosomes.

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 NUCLEAR ENVELOPE
• Surrounds the nuclear
material.
• Consists of two parallel
membranes, separated
from each other by a
narrow perinuclear
cisterns.
• These membranes fuse
at intervals, forming
openings in the nuclear
envelope called nuclear
pores.

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 OUTER MEMBRANE
• The outer membrane 6 nm thick.
• It faces the cytoplasm and is continuous at
certain sites with the rough endoplasmic
reticulum.
• A loosely arranged mesh of intermediate
filaments (vimentin) surrounds the outer
nuclear membrane on its cytoplasmic aspect.

• Ribosomes stud the cytoplasmic surface of

the outer nuclear membrane.
• These ribosomes synthesize proteins that
enter the perinuclear cisterna.
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 INNER MEMBRANE
• 6 nm thick.
• Faces the nuclear material.
• Separated from it and supported on its inner surface
by the nuclear lamina, a fibrous lamina that is 80-300
nm thick.
• Composed primarily of lamins A, B, and C.
• These intermediate filament proteins help organize
the nuclear envelope and perinuclear chromatin.
• Additionally they are essential during the mitotic
events, when they am responsible for the
disassembly and reassembly of the nuclear
envelope.
• Phosphorylation of lamins leads to disassembly, and
dephosphorylation results in reassembly of the
nuclear envelope.
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 PERINUCLEAR CISTERNAE
• Located between the inner and outer
nuclear membranes and is 20-40 nm
wide.
• Continuous with the cisternae of the
RER.
• It is perforated by nuclear pores at
various locations.
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 NUCLEAR PORES
• Average 80 nm in diameter.
• Number from dozens to
thousands depending upon
the metabolic activity; they
are associated with.
The nuclear pore complex
(NPC).
• Formed by fusion of the
inner and outer nuclear
membranes.
• Permit passage of certain
molecules in either direction
between the nucleus and
cytoplasm via a 9-nm
chamel opening.

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 NUCLEAR PORE COMPLEX
• The NPC is composed of nearly 100
proteins, some of which are arranged in
eight-fold symmetry around the margin
of the pore.
• It consists of cytoplasmic ring,
nucleoplasmic ring and the middle ring.
• The nucleoplasmic side of the pore
exhibits a nuclear basket, whereas the
cytoplasmic side displays fibers
extending into the cytoplasm.
• A transporter protein is located in the
central core and is believed to be
responsible for transporting proteins
into and out of the nucleus via
receptor-mediated transport.

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 NPC - FUNCTIONS
• The NPC permits passive movement across
the nuclear envelope via a 9- to 11-nm open
channel fiber simple diffusion.
• Most proteins, regardless of size, pass in
either direction only by receptor-mediated
transport.
• These proteins have clusters of certain
amino acids known as nuclear localization
segments (NLS) that act as signals for
transport.

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 NUCLEOLUS
• Nuclear inclusion that is not
surrounded by a membrane.
• It is present in cells that are actively
synthesizing proteins;
• More than one nucleolus can be
present in the nucleus.
• It is generally detectable only when
the cell is in interphase.
• Contains mostly rRNA and protein
as well as a modest amount of
DNA.
• It possesses nucleolar organizer
regions (NORs), portions of those
chromosomes (in humans,
chromosomes 13,14,15,21, and 22)
where rRNA genes are located;
these regions are involved in
reconstituting the nucleolus during
the GI phase of the cell cycle.

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 NUCLEOLUS
• The nucleolus contains four distinct regions.
– Fibrilla centers are composed of inactive DNA
where DNA is not being transcribed. NORs are
also located here.
– Pars fibrosa are composed of 5-nm fibrils
surrounding the fibrillar centers and contain
transcriptionally active DNA and the rRNA
precursors that are being transcribed.
– Pars granulosa are composed of 15-nm maturing
ribosomal precursor particles.
– Nucleolar matrix is a fiber network participating in
the organization of the nucleolus.

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 NUCLEOLUS - FUNCTIONS
• Synthesis of rRNA and its assembly into
ribosome precursors.
• Sequesters certain nucleolar proteins that
function as cell-cycle checkpoint signaling
proteins.
• Three such cell-cycle regulator proteins have
been identified within the nucleolus, where
they remain sequestered until their release is
required for targets in the nucleus and/or
cytoplasm.
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 NUCLEOPLASM
• Nucleoplasm is the protoplasm
within the nuclear envelope.
• It consists of a nuclear matrix and
various types of particles.

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 NUCLEAR MATRIX
• Nuclear matrix acts as a scaffold that aids in organizing
the nucleoplasm.
• It contains other components:

• Structural components include fibrillar elements,

nuclear pore, nuclear lamina complex, residual nucleoli,
and a residual ribonucleoprotein (RNP) network.

• Functional components are involved in the

transcription and processing of mRNA and rRNA, steroid
receptor-binding sites, carcinogen binding sites, heat-
shock proteins, DNA viruses, and viral proteins ('I‘
antigen).
• It may have many more functions which are currently not
known.
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 NUCLEAR PARTICLES
• Heterchromatin granules are clusters of irregularly
distributed particles
• (20-25 nm in diameter) that contain RNP and various
enzymes.

• Perichromatin granules are single dense granules (30-

• 50 nm in diameter) surrounded by a less dense halo.
• Located at the periphery of heterochromatin and exhibit
a substructure of 3-nm packed fibrils.
• Contain 4.7s RNA and two peptides similar to those
found in heterogeneous nuclear RNPs (hnRNPs ).
• They may represent messenger RNPs (mRNPs).
• The number of granules increases in liver cells exposed
to carcinogens or temperatures above 37°C.

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 NUCLEAR PARTICLES
• The hnRNP particles are complexes of
precursor mRNA (premRNA) and proteins
and are involved in processing of pre-
mRNA.

• Small nuclear RNPs (snRNPs) are

complexes of proteins and small RNAs
and are involved in hnRNP splicing or in
cleavage reactions.
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 CHROMATIN
• Chromatin consists of double-stranded
DNA complexed with histones and acidic
proteins.
• It resides within the nucleus as
heterochromatin and euchromatin.
• The euchromatin-heterochromatin ratio
is higher in malignant cells than in normal
cells.

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 CHROMATIN
• Heterochromatin is the condensed inactive
chromatin, is concentrated at the periphery of
the nucleus and around the nucleolus, as well as
scattered throughout the nucleoplasm.
• Euchromatin is the trascriptionally active form
of chromatin that appears in the LM as a lightly
stained region of the nucleus.
• The main function of chromatin is the synthesis
of RNA and cell division.

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 OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE
NUCLEUS
• Some of the components which also form
a part of the nucleus include the
– DNA.
– Different classes of RNA (m-RNA, r-RNA and
t-RNA).
• These are important for cell survival, cell
division, and protein synthesis.

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 WAKE UP FOLKS!!!!

ITS QUESTION TIME

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 REFERENCES
• Cell – A Molecular Approach 3rd Ed – Cooper

• Board Review Series – Cell Biology and

Histology 4th Ed. - Gartner

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