Question

Your friend works in a biotechnology company and has discovered a drug that blocks the ability of Ran to hydrolyze GTP to GDP. What is the most likely effect of this drug on nuclear transport?

a. nuclear transport receptors would be unable to bind cargo.

b. nuclear transport receptors would interact irreversibly with the nuclear pore fibrils.

c. nuclear transport receptors would be unable to enter the nucleus.

Answer 1

The Ran-GTP is a molecule that binds to the importin molecule and brings it out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Then Ran initiates the hydrolysis of GTP to GDP thereby releasing the importin molecule for the cargo to be bound to the importin and the complex (cargo-importin) to be imported into the nucleus. Hence if the Ran's ability to hydrolyze GTP to GDP is lost then the importin i.e. is nuclear transport receptor would be unable to leave the Ran-GTP complex thereby preventing the binding of importin to the cargo.

Hence the correct option is: a. nuclear transport receptors would be unable to bind cargo.

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