The presence of actin in the nucleus has historically been a highly contentious issue. It is now, however, well accepted that actin has physiologically important roles in the nucleus. In this Review, we describe the evolution of our thinking about actin in the nucleus starting with evidence supporting its involvement in transcription, chromatin remodeling and intranuclear movements. We also review the growing literature on the mechanisms that regulate the import and export of actin and how post-translational modifications of actin could regulate nuclear actin. We end with an extended discussion of the role of nuclear actin in the repair of DNA double stranded breaks.

肌动蛋白在核中的存在历史上一直是一个有争议的问题。然而，现在公认肌动蛋白在细胞核中具有生理重要作用。在本综述中，我们从支持肌动蛋白参与转录，染色质重塑和核内运动的证据入手，描述了我们对肌动蛋白在细胞核中思维的演变。我们还回顾了有关调节肌动蛋白进出口的机制以及肌动蛋白翻译后修饰如何调控核肌动蛋白的文献。我们以核肌动蛋白在修复DNA双链断裂中的作用作了广泛讨论。