Nuclear V-type ATPase. Focus on “Vacuolar H+-ATPase in the nuclear membranes regulates nucleo-cytosolic proton gradients”

The nuclear envelope (NE) consists of two continuous membranes, with pores where the inner nuclear membrane (INM) meets the outer nuclear membrane (ONM).V-Type ATPases in the plasma membrane and intracellular membranes alter pH (ΔpH) and generate a transmembrane electrical potential (ΔΨ) across plasma membranes and intracellular compartments. In the accompanying article by Santos et al published in this issue of the American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology the authors tested the hypothesis that the V-type ATPase was present and functional in the NE. The authors established that the nuclear pH is acidic, pH gradients across the nuclear membrane were bafilomysin and concanamycin sensitive and that the V-type ATPase was present in the NE by immunolocalization, and in both the ONM and INM by western blots and ATPase assays.