Two isoforms of Npap60 (Nup50) differentially regulate nuclear protein import

Npap60 (Nup50) is a nucleoporin that binds directly to importin alpha. In humans, there are two Npap60 isoforms: the long (Npap60L) and short (Npap60S) forms. In this study, we provide both in vitro and in vivo evidence that Npap60L and Npap60S function differently in nuclear protein import. In vitro binding assays revealed that Npap60S stabilizes the binding of importin alpha to classical NLS-cargo, whereas Npap60L promotes the release of NLS-cargo from importin alpha. In vivo time-lapse experiments showed that when the Npap60 protein level is controlled, allowing CAS to efficiently promote the dissociation of the Npap60/importin alpha complex, Npap60S and Npap60L suppress and accelerate the nuclear import of NLS-cargo, respectively. These results demonstrate that Npap60L and Npap60S have opposing functions and suggest that Npap60L and Npap60S levels must be carefully controlled for efficient nuclear import of classical NLS-cargo in humans. This study provides novel evidence that nucleoporin expression levels regulate nuclear import efficiency.