Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system for studying the nuclear lamina and laminopathic diseases

The nuclear lamina is a protein-rich network located directly underneath the inner nuclear membrane of metazoan nuclei. The components of the nuclear lamina have been implicated in nearly all nuclear functions; therefore, understanding the structural, mechanical and signal transducing properties of these proteins is crucial. In addition, mutations in many of these proteins cause a wide range of human diseases, the laminopathies. The structure, function and interaction of the lamina proteins are conserved among metazoans, emphasizing their fundamental roles in the nucleus. Several of the advances in the field of the nuclear lamina have come from studies performed in Caenorhabditis elegans or on C. elegans proteins expressed in vitro. Here, we discuss the current knowledge about the nuclear lamina, including an overview of the technical tools offered by C. elegans that make it a powerful model organism for the study of the nuclear lamina and laminopathic diseases.