Fluorescent probes reveal fluid-like barriers inside nuclear pores of living human cells

Our genetic material is hidden inside the nucleus of our cells, well protected by a double membrane. All molecules wishing to pass through must thread their way through one of several thousand nuclear pores. The scaffold structure of these pores is well known. However, exactly how transport takes place within them has been the subject of much debate. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics (MPI-BP) in Frankfurt am Main and Wuhan University in China have now shed light on the matter.