Electron Microscopy: Nuclear Pore Complex

Nuclear Pore Complexes (NPCs) seen from the nucleoplasmic side. The cage (also called basket) structure is clearly seen in this view as rings connected with the pore with eight fibers. The large globular structures, sometimes seen on top of and sometimes seen inside the cage, are RNP particles (mRNA+protein) being transported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm through the NPC.

Acknowledgement: Electron micrograph kindly provided by Elena Kiseleva, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk. Reference: "RNA Export is Mediated by Structural Reorganization of the Nuclear Pore Basket", Elena Kiseleva, Martin W. Goldberg, Bertil Daneholt and Terence D. Allen, Journal of Molecular Biology, 260:289-477