It has long been appreciated that communication between the nucleus and the cytoplasm of a cell occurs through the nuclear pores. Regulation of this communication has remained a mystery. A breakthrough in our understanding of this regulation was recently presented by Carmen Perez- Terzic, Jason Pyle, Marisa Jaconi, Lisa Stehnc-Bittel, and David Clapham of Mayo Clinic. Using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), they demonstrated the presence of a small plug within the nuclear pore that was present under certain physiologic circumstances. This “plug“ may regulate the movement of molecules through the pore.