Functional genomics evidence unearths new moonlighting roles of outer ring coat nucleoporins

Abstract

There is growing evidence for the involvement of Y-complex nucleoporins (Y-Nups) in cellular processes beyond the inner core of nuclear pores of eukaryotes. To comprehensively assess the range of possible functions of Y-Nups, we delimit their structural and functional properties by high-specificity sequence profiles and tissue-specific expression patterns. Our analysis establishes the presence of Y-Nups across eukaryotes with novel composite domain architectures, supporting new moonlighting functions in DNA repair, RNA processing, signaling and mitotic control. Y-Nups associated with a select subset of the discovered domains are found to be under tight coordinated regulation across diverse human and mouse cell types and tissues, strongly implying that they function in conjunction with the nuclear pore. Collectively, our results unearth an expanded network of Y-Nup interactions, thus supporting the emerging view of the Y-complex as a dynamic protein assembly with diverse functional roles in the cell.