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Nuclear envelope formation by chromatin-mediated reorganization of the endoplasmic reticulum

Nature Cell Biology volume 9, pages 1160–1166 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The formation of the nuclear envelope (NE) around chromatin is a major membrane-remodelling event that occurs during cell division of metazoa. It is unclear whether the nuclear membrane reforms by the fusion of NE fragments or if it re-emerges from an intact tubular network of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here, we show that NE formation and expansion requires a tubular ER network and occurs efficiently in the presence of the membrane fusion inhibitor GTPγS. Chromatin recruitment of membranes, which is initiated by tubule-end binding, followed by the formation, expansion and sealing of flat membrane sheets, is mediated by DNA-binding proteins residing in the ER. Thus, chromatin plays an active role in reshaping of the ER during NE formation.

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Figure 1: The ER network is required for nuclear-envelope formation.
Figure 2: Chromatin-mediated reshaping of the ER.
Figure 3: NE formation is mediated by protein–DNA interactions.
Figure 4: NE expansion requires an intact ER network.

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Acknowledgements

Antibodies against Rtn4a and Rtn2 were kindly provided by G. Voeltz and Tpr antibodies by V. Cordes. The histone H2B-tdTomato construct was a kind gift from Gray Person. We thank members of our lab for helpful discussions and T. Hunter for critically reading the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (GM0739994-01). M. W. H is a Pew Scholar.

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  1. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, 92037, CA, USA

    Daniel J. Anderson & Martin W. Hetzer

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  1. Daniel J. Anderson
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  2. Martin W. Hetzer
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Contributions

Both authors contributed to experimental design and data analysis. D.J.A. performed all experiments. M.W.H. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin W. Hetzer.

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Anderson, D., Hetzer, M. Nuclear envelope formation by chromatin-mediated reorganization of the endoplasmic reticulum. Nat Cell Biol 9, 1160–1166 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1636

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