Permeability properties of mammalian cell nuclei in living cells and in vitro

The present study evaluates the role of the nuclear envelope in mammalian cells by applying two different approaches using either intact cells of mouse liver or isolated nuclei. In one approach the nuclei were studied with microelectrodes. The transmembrane voltage drop produced by passing current through an impaling microelectrode was measured with a second impaling microelectrode. In the second approach, the permeability of the nuclear envelope was studied by injection of a series of fluorescent probes. Lucifer Yellow CH and a variety of exogenous proteins labelled by conjugation with Lucifer Yellow VS were delivered into either the cytoplasm or the nucleus in situ. The fluorescence of the probe was followed either with a video camera or photographically. The results agree with the idea that the mammalian nuclear envelope is permeable to rather large molecules. Molecules with estimated radii below 2.4 nm seem to exchange rapidly, whereas molecules with estimated radii of 2.8 nm or above are excluded. The low electrical resistance of the envelope yields an estimate of pore radius, in the range of 3.4-6.5 nm.