Interplay of the nuclear envelope with chromatin in physiology and pathology
The nuclear envelope compartmentalizes chromatin in eukaryotic cells. The main nuclear envelope components are lamins that associate with a panoply of factors, including the LEM domain
proteins. The nuclear envelope of mammalian cells opens up during cell division. It is reassembled
and associated with chromatin at the end of mitosis when telomeres tether to the nuclear
periphery. Lamins, LEM domain proteins, and DNA binding factors, as BAF, contribute to the
reorganization of chromatin. In this context, an emerging role is that of the ESCRT complex, a
machinery operating in multiple membrane assembly pathways, including nuclear envelope
reformation. Research in this area is unraveling how, mechanistically, ESCRTs link to nuclear
envelope associated factors as LEM domain proteins. Importantly, ESCRTs work also during
interphase for repairing nuclear envelope ruptures. Altogether the advances in this field are
giving new clues for the interpretation of diseases implicating nuclear envelope fragility, as
laminopathies and cancer.