This image got me thinking - are specific nuclear pores associated with specific chromosomal territories? Could that be a mechanism of regulation? For example, if the ER were to cover a pore and restrict traffic through it, I imagine it would result in downregulation of expression of those genes associated with that pore. Or if the pore were to disappear, or a new pore were to appear - wouldn't this also affect the expression capability of the nearby genes? One aspect of this is that chromatin associated with the nuclear envelope is not active (heterochromatin).
I talked about this with David Goodsell, and he noted that diffusion is VERY fast - so simply putting an obstacle in front of a nuclear pore might not have much effect. But he thought the underlying idea was interesting. Perhaps nuclear pores, active chromatin domains, and the ER work together to create functionally significant microenvironments within the cell.
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