The protection and preservation of the genetic material by tiny holes in the cell nucleus is crucial for healthy ageing. German researchers from the Synthetic Biophysics of Protein Disorder Group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Department of Theoretical Biophysics at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main have literally filled a gap in our knowledge of the composition and operation of these nuclear pores.
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) play significant roles in various biological events. Due to their non-intuitive physical structures, analysis and understanding of their dynamics have proven challenging. Innovative atomic force microscopy techniques have emerged as a potential tool to gain insights into the structure of IDPs.