In an impressive demonstration of the combined power of high-throughput proteomics and cell biological analysis, Rout et al. (page 635) describe an exhaustive analysis of the composition and architecture of the yeast nuclear pore complex (NPC). The data present a comprehensive and definitive inventory of the core elements of the NPC, providing not only the identity of each protein component, but establishing their positions in the high resolution NPC structure published last year by Chris Akey's laboratory. Even more importantly, the paper provides a dramatic illustration of just how cell biology is emerging as the playing field on which genomic and proteomic data will be turned into biological insights.
Beginning with a subcellular fraction that is highly enriched in NPCs, the scientists performed two-dimensional separations with HPLC followed by SDS-PAGE. Each band was then analyzed by trypsin digestion and...
