© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

8.5.4.3 Nuclear Cortex

The nuclear cortex is an electron-dense layer of intermediate filaments (composed of the nuclear lamins common to most cell types) on the nucleoplasmic side of the inner nuclear membrane.¹⁰⁰⁴ The cortex, also called the nuclear lamina or karyoskeleton, is up to 30-40 nm thick in some cells but is difficult to detect in others.⁹³⁹ Its proteinaceous fibers are arranged in whorls that may serve to funnel materials to the nuclear pores for export to the cytoplasm. These fibers may also be involved in pore formation. The nuclear cortex helps to determine nuclear shape, and also binds to specific sites on chromatin, thereby guiding the interactions of chromatin (Fig. 8.47) with the nuclear envelope.⁵³¹ Chromatin binding sites on the nuclear cortex avoid the immediate vicinity of nuclear pores to ensure unobstructed passage of materials through the pores.⁵³¹

Last updated on 20 February 2003