Intranucleaire

Intranucleaire is a French adjective meaning located within the nucleus. The term is used in both biology and physics to describe something that takes place inside the nucleus, whether the nucleus of a cell or the atomic nucleus of an atom. The English equivalent is intranuclear, formed from intra- (inside) and nuclear (nucleus).

In biology, the term intranucleaire refers to processes, structures, or molecules that reside inside the cell nucleus. Examples include intranuclear transcription, DNA replication, and RNA processing, as well as the organization of chromatin, the nucleolus, and other nuclear bodies. The term is used to describe the intracellular routing of proteins and nucleic acids that must enter the nucleus to function, and to distinguish nuclear events from those occurring in the cytoplasm or at the nuclear envelope.

In nuclear physics, intranucleaire describes phenomena that occur within the atomic nucleus after a high-energy interaction. Intranuclear reactions, cascades, and energy transfers are modeled to understand how incident particles interact with nucleons inside the nucleus. Such studies help explain particle production, nucleon knockout, and fragmentation processes, and are contrasted with exterior, surface, or extranuclear interactions.

The term intranucleaire is predominantly found in French-language scientific literature; in English-language contexts, intranuclear is the standard counterpart. Context is important to determine whether it refers to cellular or atomic nuclei.