Coaching ribosome biogenesis from the nuclear periphery

Abstract

Severe invagination of the nuclear envelope is a hallmark of cancers, aging, neurodegeneration, and infections. However, the outcomes of nuclear invagination remain unclear. This work identified a new function of nuclear invagination: regulating ribosome biogenesis. With expansion microscopy, we observed frequent physical contact between nuclear invaginations and nucleoli. Surprisingly, the higher the invagination curvature, the more ribosomal RNA and pre-ribosomes are made in the contacted nucleolus. By growing cells on nanopillars that generate nuclear invaginations with desired curvatures, we can increase and decrease ribosome biogenesis. Based on this causation, we repressed the ribosome levels in breast cancer and progeria cells by growing cells on low-curvature nanopillars, indicating that overactivated ribosome biogenesis can be rescued by reshaping nuclei. Mechanistically, high-curvature nuclear invaginations reduce heterochromatin and enrich nuclear pore complexes, which promote ribosome biogenesis. We anticipate that our findings will serve as a foundation for further studies on nuclear deformation. HighlightsNuclear invaginations regulate ribosome biogenesis by physically contacting nucleoli. High-curvature nuclear tunnels increase ribosome biogenesis. Nanopillars reduce ribosome biogenesis by transforming high-curvature nuclear invaginations to low-curvature ones.