Poliovirus and some other picornaviruses trigger relocation of certain nuclear proteins into the cytoplasm. Here, by using a protein changing its fluorescence color with time and containing a nuclear localization signal (NLS), we demonstrate that the poliovirus-triggered relocation is largely due to the exit of presynthesized nuclear protein into the cytoplasm. The leakiness of the nuclear envelope was also documented by the inability of nuclei from digitonin-permeabilized, virus-infected (but not mock-infected) cells to retain an NLS-containing derivative of green fluorescent protein (GFP). The cytoplasm-to-nucleus traffic was also facilitated during infection, as evidenced by experiments with GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase), cyclin B1, and an NLS-lacking derivative of GFP, which are predominantly cytoplasmic in uninfected cells. Electron microscopy demonstrated that a bar-like barrier structure in the channel of the nuclear pores, seen in unin- Picornaviruses (61) are cytoplasmic viruses. All essential steps of their reproduction, such as translation and replication of the viral RNA and maturation of virions, are confined to the cytoplasm. Not surprisingly, picornaviruses, such as poliovirus, echovirus, and encephalomyocarditis virus, are known to produce infectious progeny in nucleus-free cytoplasts (24, 54) or cytoplasmic extracts (5, 48, 66). This does not mean, however, that the nucleus or its components have no role in picornavirus reproduction. Indeed, the nucleus-free cytoplasts generated much less virus than did intact cells, and the former, in contrast to the latter, failed to support viral reproduction after infection with double-stranded replicative form RNA of poliovirus (14). Also, some cellular proteins known to have predominantly nuclear localization appear to relocate into the cytoplasm and to stimulate viral RNA translation (46, 37) or replication (45,71). On the other hand, the entry of virus-specific (and possibly of some cellular) cytoplasmic proteins into the nucleus of picornavirus-infected cell exerts important effects on the course of viral reproduction and the cell fate. Thus, viral proteases 2A and 3C were reported to target several transcription factors (56,73,(78)(79)(80) and histones (21). Accumulation of virus-specific proteins in the nuclei of poliovirus-infected (8, 22) and encephalomyocarditis virus-infected (3, 4) cells was directly observed. Nuclear alterations developing upon different forms of picornavirus-induced apoptosis (7,28,35,40,50,69) also require entry of certain proapoptotic host proteins (e.g., effector caspases and DNases) into the nuclei (cf., references 20 and 55).Nucleocytoplasmic protein exchange is a sophisticated, tightly regulated process ensuring accurate control of gene expression and other cellular functions (43,44,74). The nucleus is surrounded by an envelope (10, 58) consisting of the outer and inner protein-containing lipid membranes and an underlying meshwork-like proteinaceous lamina. The major gates for the nucleocytoplasmic exch...