Counting the Components of Protein Complexes in the Nuclear Envelope (Biophysical Journal)

The cell nucleus is enclosed by a double-membrane sheet called the nuclear envelope (NE). The NE is composed of two closely juxtaposed lipid bilayers, termed the inner nuclear membrane (INM) and the outer nuclear membrane (ONM), separated by an ~30-50-nm-wide perinuclear space that is contiguous with the endoplasmic reticulum lumen (1). The INM and ONM are fused together at thousands of specific sites resulting in the formation of nuclear pore complexes. The NE is interconnected not only with the endoplasmic reticulum but also with cytoskeletal elements on its nuclear and cytoplasmic faces, establishing a complex membrane-protein-chromatin network.