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The vault associates with membranes in situ

Geissler, K.; Kreysing, J. P.; Wang, Y.; Glushkova, D.; Obarska-Kosinska, A.; Hoffmann, P. C.; Böhm, S.; Schmidt, A.; Meier-Credo, J.; Langer, J.; Hummer, G.; Beck, M.

2025-12-15 cell biology
10.64898/2025.12.12.693869 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The eukaryotic vault particle is a giant ribonucleoprotein complex that assembles into an iconic barrel-like cage. Its cellular function has remained elusive despite extensive characterization. Using cryo-electron tomography of Dictyostelium discoideum cells, we define the distribution, structural states and interaction landscape of vault particles in situ. Surprisingly, we detect a subpopulation of vault particles associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and nuclear envelope membranes. This association occurs at a defined barrel height of the vault particle and at patches of reduced membrane bilayer thickness and altered curvature. We further find that a substantial fraction of vaults encloses 80S ribosomes in highly ordered orientations. These structural findings are further corroborated by proximity labeling experiments which identify ER-resident proteins and numerous ribosomal components as vault particle interactors. The membrane-bound and ribosome-encapsulating vault populations that we uncover will direct future studies towards revealing vault function.

Published in Nature Communications (predicted rank #1) · training set

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