Building and breaking mechanical bridges between the nucleus and cytoskeleton: Regulation of LINC complex assembly and disassembly

Abstract

The nucleus is physically coupled to the cytoskeleton through LINC complexes, macromolecular bridges composed of SUN and KASH proteins that span the nuclear envelope. LINC complexes are involved in a wide variety of critical cellular processes. For these processes to occur, cells regulate the composition, assembly, and disassembly of LINC complexes. Here we discuss recent studies on the regulation of the SUN-KASH interaction that forms the core of the LINC complex. These new findings encompass the stages of LINC complex assembly, from the formation of SUN-KASH heterooligomers to higher-order assemblies of LINC complexes. There is also new work on how components of the LINC complex are selectively dismantled, particularly by proteasomal degradation. It is becoming increasingly clear that LINC complexes are subject to multiple layers of regulation.