Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) span the 2 membranes of the nuclear envelope (NE) 
and facilitate nucleocytoplasmic exchange of macromolecules. NPCs have a roughly 
tripartite structural organization with the so-called nuclear basket emanating 
from the NPC scaffold into the nucleoplasm. The nuclear basket is composed of 
the 3 nucleoporins Nup153, Nup50, and Tpr, but their specific role for the 
structural organization of this NPC substructure is, however, not well 
established. In this study, we have used thin-section transmission electron 
microscopy to determine the structural consequences of altering the expression 
of Nup153 in human cells. We show that the assembly and integrity of the nuclear 
basket is not affected by Nup153 depletion, whereas its integrity is perturbed 
in cells expressing high concentrations of the zinc-finger domain of Nup153. 
Moreover, even mild over-expression of Nup153 is coinciding with massive changes 
in nuclear organization and it is the excess of the zinc-finger domain of Nup153 
that is sufficient to induce these rearrangements. Our data indicate a central 
function of Nup153 in the organization of the nucleus, not only at the 
periphery, but throughout the entire nuclear interior.