Nuclear matrix

In biology, the nuclear matrix is the network of fibres found throughout the inside of a cell nucleus after a specific method of chemical extraction. According to some it is somewhat analogous to the cell cytoskeleton. In contrast to the cytoskeleton, however, the nuclear matrix has been proposed to be a dynamic structure. Along with the nuclear lamina, it supposedly aids in organizing the genetic information within the cell.[1]

The exact function of this structure is still disputed, and its very existence has been called into question.[2] Evidence for such a structure was recognised as long ago as 1948,[3] and consequently many proteins associated with the matrix have been discovered. The presence of intra-cellular proteins is common ground, and it is agreed that proteins such as the Scaffold, or Matrix Associated Proteins (SAR or MAR) have some role in the organisation of chromatin in the living cell. There is evidence that the nuclear matrix is involved in regulation of gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana.[4]

Whenever a similar structure can actually be found in living cells remains a topic of discussion.[5] According to some sources, most, if not all proteins found in nuclear matrix are the aggregates of proteins of structures that can be found in the nucleus of living cells. Such structures are nuclear lamina, which consist of proteins termed lamins which can be also found in the nuclear matrix.[6]

  1. ^ Berezney, Ronald; Coffey, Donald S. (October 1974). "Identification of a nuclear protein matrix". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 60 (4): 1410–1417. doi:10.1016/0006-291X(74)90355-6. PMID 4214419.
  2. ^ Pederson T (March 2000). "Half a century of "the nuclear matrix"". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 11 (3): 799–805. doi:10.1091/mbc.11.3.799. PMC 14811. PMID 10712500.
  3. ^ ZBARSKII, I.B; DEBOV, S.S. (1948). "On the proteins of the cell nucleus". Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR. 63: 795–798.
  4. ^ Tetko IV, Haberer G, Rudd S, Meyers B, Mewes HW, Mayer KF (March 2006). "Spatiotemporal expression control correlates with intragenic scaffold matrix attachment regions (S/MARs) in Arabidopsis thaliana". PLOS Computational Biology. 2 (3): e21. Bibcode:2006PLSCB...2...21T. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020021. PMC 1420657. PMID 16604187.
  5. ^ Hancock, Ronald (2000-07-05). "A new look at the nuclear matrix". Chromosoma. 109 (4): 219–225. doi:10.1007/s004120000077. ISSN 0009-5915. PMID 10968250. S2CID 8471350.
  6. ^ Razin, S. V.; Borunova, V. V.; Iarovaia, O. V.; Vassetzky, Y. S. (July 2014). "Nuclear matrix and structural and functional compartmentalization of the eucaryotic cell nucleus". Biochemistry (Moscow). 79 (7): 608–618. doi:10.1134/S0006297914070037. ISSN 0006-2979. PMID 25108324. S2CID 1678398.