ELYS is a dual nucleoporin/kinetochore protein required for nuclear pore assembly and proper cell division

Abstract

Nuclear pores span the nuclear envelope and act as gated aqueous channels to regulate the transport of macromolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm, from individual proteins and RNAs to entire viral genomes. By far the largest subunit of the nuclear pore is the Nup107–160 complex, which consists of nine proteins and is critical for nuclear pore assembly. At mitosis, the Nup107–160 complex localizes to kinetochores, suggesting that it may also function in chromosome segregation. To investigate the dual roles of the Nup107–160 complex at the pore and during mitosis, we set out to identify binding partners by immunoprecipitation from both interphase and mitotic Xenopus egg extracts and mass spectrometry. ELYS, a putative transcription factor, was discovered to copurify with the Nup107–160 complex in Xenopus interphase extracts, Xenopus mitotic extracts, and human cell extracts. Indeed, a large fraction of ELYS localizes to the nuclear pore complexes of HeLa cells. Importantly, depletion of ELYS by RNAi leads to severe disruption of nuclear pores in the nuclear envelope, whereas lamin, Ran, and tubulin staining appear normal. At mitosis, ELYS targets to kinetochores, and RNAi depletion from HeLa cells leads to an increase in cytokinesis defects. Thus, we have identified an unexpected member of the nuclear pore and kinetochore that functions in both pore assembly at the nucleus and faithful cell division.