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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Super-Resolution Live Cell Imaging of Subcellular Structures
Published on: January 13, 2021
From the resolution revolution to evolution: structural insights into the evolutionary relationships between vesicle
Martin Beck1, Shyamal Mosalaganti2, Jan Kosinski3
1Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany; Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Nuclear pores and coated vesicles are elaborate multi-component protein complexes that oligomerize on membranes, and stabilize or induce membrane curvature. Their components, nucleoporins and coat proteins, respectively, share similar structural folds and some principles of how they interact with membranes. The protocoatomer hypothesis postulates that this is due to divergent evolution from a common ancestor. It therefore has been suggested that nucleoporins and coat proteins have similar higher order architectures. Here, we review recent work that relied on technical advances in cryo-electron microscopy and integrative structural biology to take a fresh look on how these proteins form membrane coats in situ. We discuss the relationship between the architectures of nuclear pores and coated vesicles, and their evolutionary origins.
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