The main function of the nuclear lamina, an intermediate filament meshwork lying primarily beneath the inner nuclear membrane, is to provide structural scaffolding for the cell nucleus. However, the lamina also serves other functions, such as having a role in chromatin organization, connecting the nucleus to the cytoplasm, gene transcription, and mitosis. In somatic cells, the main protein constituents of the nuclear lamina are lamins A, C, B1, and B2. Interest in the nuclear lamins increased dramatically in recent years with the realization that mutations in LMNA, the gene encoding lamins A and C, cause a panoply of human diseases ("laminopathies"), including muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, partial lipodystrophy, and progeroid syndromes. Here, we review the laminopathies and the long strange trip from basic cell biology to therapeutic approaches for these diseases.The nuclear lamina is an intermediate filament (IF) network composed of proteins called lamins and is part of the nuclear envelope of all somatic cells. For many years, research on the nuclear lamina was the domain of a relatively small group of cell biologists working on nuclear structure and mitosis. In the past decade, however, interest in the nuclear lamina has exploded with the discovery that mutations in the genes encoding lamins and associated nuclear envelope proteins cause a diverse range of human diseases. The mechanisms by which abnormalities in the nuclear lamina cause distinct human diseases (known as laminopathies) involving different tissues and organ systems have remained obscure. This review provides a general introduction to the nuclear lamins, focusing on "lacunae" in our understanding of these proteins. We focus on work in mammals but recognize that important insights regarding lamins have originated from studies of a number of other organisms (in particular, Xenopus, Drosophila, and Caenorhabditis elegans). We also discuss mechanisms by which mutations in lamin A/C (LMNA), the gene that encodes lamins A and C, might cause disease as well as potential therapeutic interventions for laminopathies.
The nuclear envelope and nuclear laminaThe nuclear lamina, an IF network. The nuclear envelope, which is composed of nuclear membranes, nuclear pore complexes, and the nuclear lamina, separates the nucleus from the cytoplasm. The nuclear lamina is a meshwork of IF proteins known as lamins and is localized primarily on the inner aspect of the inner nuclear membrane (1-4) (Figure 1). In vertebrates, lamins have molecular masses of 60-80 kDa and generally have been divided into two groups, A type and B type, based on differences in isoelectric points (5).We now know that, in humans, three genes encode nuclear lamins (Figure 1). LMNA on chromosome 1 encodes the A-type lamins, with lamins A and C being the main isoforms in somatic cells (6). Lamins A and C are produced by alternative splicing, and the first 566 amino acids of the two proteins are identical. Lamin C has 6 unique amino acids at its carboxyl terminus, while prelamin A, the prec...