Stress and aging at the nuclear gateway

• Nuclear pore complexes are dynamic structures with a key role in cellular homeostasis.
• Scaffold and barrier nucleoporins differ dramatically in their turnover rates.
• Scaffold nucleoporins are among the most extremely long-lived proteins in rat brain.
• Nuclear transport pathways are altered under stress conditions.

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a massive molecular machine embedded in the nuclear envelope and controlling traffic into and out of the cell nucleus. Here, we describe some of the outstanding research questions concerning the NPC, its assembly and functions. We also discuss recent findings that link the NPC and its immediate surroundings to the process of cellular aging. Scaffold and barrier nucleoporins are two major types of protein building blocks that make up the NPC. Surprisingly, these two groups of nucleoporins differ dramatically in their turnover rates. Recent work identifies some of the scaffold nucleoporins as the most extremely long-lived proteins in rat brain. Some of the consequences of these findings and new open questions arising from them are discussed. We also consider the evidence for a perturbed permeability barrier in nuclei from old cells and the alteration of nuclear transport pathways under stress conditions. Finally, we describe the connection between premature aging syndromes and the nuclear lamina, a filamentous protein network which underlies the nuclear envelope.