These results show that Kpnα2, Ran and CRM1 nuclear transport proteins interact with Kpnβ1, to a greater extent in cancer cells, and we propose that while these proteins are required to bind Kpnβ1 in normal cells, their interaction is substantially enriched in the cancer cells, likely contributing to faster rates of nuclear transport required by cancer cells. Here, KPNA2 is linked to cancer.