Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22910359›Full record

ArticleNature communications2012

Protein sliding and DNA denaturation are essential for DNA organization by human mitochondrial transcription factor A.

Géraldine Farge, Niels Laurens, Onno D Broekmans, Siet M J L van den Wildenberg, Linda C M Dekker, Martina Gaspari, Claes M Gustafsson, Erwin J G Peterman, Maria Falkenberg, Gijs J L Wuite

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In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
82citing papers in PubMed
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

82 citing papers in PubMed, 129 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. TFAM organizes DNA into compact higher order structures.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. A Multistate Adaptive System of Topologically Distinct Chiral Assemblies.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Mechanisms and regulation of human mitochondrial transcription.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2024
    Review
  19. Bridging DNA contacts allow Dps frombioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024
    Article
  20. Review

22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Géraldine FargeDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and LaserLaB, VU University, De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands.
Niels Laurens
Onno D Broekmans
Siet M J L van den Wildenberg
Linda C M Dekker
Martina Gaspari
Claes M Gustafsson
Erwin J G Peterman
Maria Falkenberg
Gijs J L Wuite
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NLUniversity of Gothenburg · SEKarolinska Institutet · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mitochondria organize their genome in protein-DNA complexes called nucleoids. The mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), a protein that regulates mitochondrial transcription, is abundant in these nucleoids. TFAM is believed to be essential for mitochondrial DNA compaction, yet the exact mechanism has not been resolved. Here we use a combination of single-molecule manipulation and fluorescence microscopy to show the nonspecific DNA-binding dynamics and compaction by TFAM. We observe that single TFAM proteins diffuse extensively over DNA (sliding) and, by collisions, form patches on DNA in a cooperative manner. Moreover, we demonstrate that TFAM induces compaction by changing the flexibility of the DNA, which can be explained by local denaturation of the DNA (melting). Both sliding of TFAM and DNA melting are also necessary characteristics for effective, specific transcription regulation by TFAM. This apparent connection between transcription and DNA organization clarifies how TFAM can accomplish two complementary roles in the mitochondrial nucleoid at the same time.

Indexed as

DNA-Binding ProteinsDNA, MitochondrialHumansMitochondriaMitochondrial ProteinsNucleic Acid DenaturationTranscription FactorsDNA-Binding ProteinsDNA, MitochondrialMitochondrial Proteinsmitochondrial transcription factor ATranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID22910359
OpenAlexW2042111301

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.