How individual nucleoporins (Nups) perform their role in nuclear pore structure and function is largely unknown. In this study, we examined the structure of purified Nup170 to obtain clues about its function. We show that Nup170 adopts a crescent moon shape with two structurally distinct and separable domains, a β-propeller N terminus and an α-solenoid C terminus. To address the individual roles of each domain, we expressed these domains separately in yeast. Notably, overexpression of the Nup170 C domain was toxic in nup170Δ cells and caused accumulation of several Nups in cytoplasmic foci. Further experiments indicated that the C-terminal domain anchors Nup170 to nuclear pores, whereas the N-terminal domain functions to recruit or retain a subset of Nups, including Nup159, Nup188, and Pom34, at nuclear pores. We conclude that Nup170 performs its role as a structural adapter between cytoplasmically oriented Nups and the nuclear pore membrane.