The nucleoplasm, also known as karyoplasm, is the type of protoplasm that makes up the cell nucleus, the most prominent organelle of the eukaryotic cell. It is enclosed by the nuclear envelope, also known as the nuclear membrane. The nucleoplasm resembles the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell in that it is a gel-like substance found within a membrane, although the nucleoplasm only fills out the space in the nucleus and has its own unique functions. The nucleoplasm suspends structures within the nucleus that are not membrane-bound and is responsible for maintaining the shape of the nucleus. The structures suspended in the nucleoplasm include chromosomes, various proteins, nuclear bodies, the nucleolus, nucleoporins, nucleotides, and nuclear speckles.
The soluble, liquid portion of the nucleoplasm is called the karyolymph nucleosol, or nuclear hyaloplasm.
The existence of the nucleus, including the nucleoplasm, was first documented as early as 1682 by the Dutch microscopist Leeuwenhoek and was later described and drawn by Franz Bauer. However, the cell nucleus was not named and described in detail until Robert Brown's presentation to the Linnean Society in 1831.
The nucleoplasm, while described by Bauer and Brown, was not specifically isolated as a separate entity until its naming in 1882 by Polish-German scientist Eduard Strasburger, one of the most famous botanists of the 19th century, and the first person to discover mitosis in plants.
Many important cell functions take place in the nucleus, more specifically in the nucleoplasm. The main function of the nucleoplasm is to provide the proper environment for essential processes that take place in the nucleus, serving as the suspension substance for all organelles inside the nucleus, and storing the structures that are used in these processes. 34% of proteins encoded in the human genome are ones that localize to the nucleoplasm. These proteins take part in RNA transcription and gene regulation in the nucleoplasm. Proteins located in the nucleoplasm are involved in the activation of genes that are used in the cell cycle.