Electron microscopy of nuclear nanoribonucleoproteins (nanoRNPs)

Abstract

The cell nucleus is a highly dynamic and compartmentalized cell organelle.1 In addition to harbor the majority of the genome of a species, most early gene expression is carried out in it. Eukaryotic early gene expression includes the synthesis and processing of transcripts. The transcripts are coupled to several factors constituting ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). On the one hand, the nucleolus is the largest RNP;2 on the other hand other structures called nuclear particles are also present which measure nanometers in diameter. We use the term nanoRNPs as to refer to them.