Proteins bearing a nuclear localization signal (NLS) are targeted to the nucleus by the heterodimeric transporter importin. Importin ␣ binds to the NLS and to importin , which carries it through the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Importin disassembles in the nucleus, evidently by binding of RanGTP to importin . The importin subunits are exported separately. We investigated the role of Cse1p, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue of human CAS, in nuclear export of Srp1p (yeast importin ␣). Cse1p is located predominantly in the nucleus but also is present in the cytoplasm and at the NPC. We analyzed the in vivo localization of the importin subunits fused to the green fluorescent protein in wild-type and cse1-1 mutant cells. Srp1p but not importin  accumulated in nuclei of cse1-1 mutants, which are defective in NLS import but not defective in NLS-independent import pathways. Purified Cse1p binds with high affinity to Srp1p only in the presence of RanGTP. The complex is dissociated by the cytoplasmic RanGTP-binding protein Yrb1p. Combined with the in vivo results, this suggests that a complex containing Srp1p, Cse1p, and RanGTP is exported from the nucleus and is subsequently disassembled in the cytoplasm by Yrb1p. The formation of the trimeric Srp1p-Cse1p-RanGTP complex is inhibited by NLS peptides, indicating that only NLS-free Srp1p will be exported to the cytoplasm.Transport of proteins and RNAs between the cytoplasm and the nucleus across the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is mediated by shuttling transport receptors. All transporters so far identified belong to the importin  superfamily. Substrate binding and release of these transporters are modulated by the small GTPase Ran, the key regulator of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Several specific transport pathways for different import and export substrates have recently been identified (reviewed in references 52 and 73).The best understood transport pathway is the import of proteins carrying a classical nuclear localization sequence (NLS), which is characterized by a short segment of basic amino acid residues (20). The NLS is recognized by importin ␣ in the cytoplasm, which in turn binds to importin . Importin  mediates docking at the NPC and subsequent transport into the nucleus. Docking of NLS substrates to the nuclear envelope and subsequent energy-dependent transfer into the nucleus can be reconstituted with recombinant factors and permeabilized cells in vitro. Two soluble factors, Ran and p10, are sufficient to promote the translocation step (for reviews, see references 16, 32 and 50).Ran is an abundant, mostly nuclear protein that switches between two conformational states, i.e., bound to GDP (RanGDP) and to GTP (RanGTP). The specific regulators of the Ran GTPase cycle, the cytoplasmic GTPase-activating protein RanGAP1/Rna1p and the nuclear nucleotide exchange factor RCC1/Prp20p, generate RanGDP in the cytoplasm and RanGTP in the nucleus (reviewed in references 32 and 61). RanGTP binds to importin , which is thereby released from the NLS-importin complex (...