NANOPHYSIOLOGY OF CELLS, CHANNELS AND NUCLEAR PORES - Life at the Nanoscale: Atomic Force Microscopy of Live Cells - page 136

oocytes can be committed to apoptosis by
microinjection of cytochrome c into the cytosol of oocytes. Figure 6.16
depicts an experimental approach for investigating, with AFM, the structure
and mechanics of the nuclear envelope following induction of apoptosis in
oocytes.

For this purpose, Xenopus l.

(a) (b) (c)

(e)

(f)

(d)

Figure 6.16. Experimental approach for the AFM investigation of the structure and
mechanics of the nuclear envelope following induction of apoptosis in oocytes. (a)
Induction of apoptosis in Xenopus l. oocytes. (b, c) Isolation of the cell nucleus 2.5
hours after injection. (d) Preparation of the nuclear envelope. (e) Application of
AFM to structurally and mechanically investigate the nuclear envelope in luid at the
nanoscale. (f ) Individual nuclear pores visualised with AFM.

6.3.4.1 Disfiguraon and soening of the doomed nuclear envelope
upon degradaon of its prominent structural and funconal
features, the nuclear basket and the nuclear lamina

As shown in Fig. 6.17 , both the NPC basket and the nuclear lamina degrade
during apoptosis, and the consequences of degradation to both the nuclear
envelope and the cell nucleus are severe. The NPC basket is indispensable for
the nucleocytoplasmic cross-talk. It mediates export of ribonucleoproteins
and other molecules from the nucleus to the cytosol, and this cross-talk is
consequently impaired following NPC basket degradation. Nuclear lamina