The nuclear pore complex and chromatin boundaries

The organization of the chromatin fiber within specific nuclear compartments and its arrangement into domains of higher-order structure are aspects of the regulation of gene expression that remain largely undefined. Boundary and insulator elements are likely to play important roles in establishing and maintaining the nuclear architecture required by eukaryotic cells to orchestrate the intricate array of events such as DNA replication, transcription and RNA processing. Recent results suggest a link between chromatin organization and nuclear transport and offer a glimpse of how nuclear organization might facilitate the integration of complex nuclear processes.