Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34139012›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2021

Alternative dimerization is required for activity and inhibition of the HEPN ribonuclease RnlA.

Gabriela Garcia-Rodriguez, Daniel Charlier, Dorien Wilmaerts, Jan Michiels, Remy Loris

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 36% 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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Type II Toxin-Antitoxin Systems inInfection and drug resistance · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Biochemical and X-ray analyses of the players involved in the faRel2/aTfaRel2 toxin-antitoxin operon.Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology communications · 2023
    Article
  9. Unveil the Secret of the Bacteria and Phage Arms Race.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Review
  10. Article
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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Gabriela Garcia-RodriguezStructural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-7996-7622
Daniel CharlierResearch Group of Microbiology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium.
Dorien WilmaertsCenter of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, Box 2460, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-1616-7070
Jan MichielsCenter of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, Box 2460, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-5829-0897
Remy LorisStructural Biology Brussels, Department of Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-8862-3338
Vrije Universiteit Brussel · BEVlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rnlAB toxin-antitoxin operon from Escherichia coli functions as an anti-phage defense system. RnlA was identified as a member of the HEPN (Higher Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes Nucleotide-binding domain) superfamily of ribonucleases. The activity of the toxin RnlA requires tight regulation by the antitoxin RnlB, the mechanism of which remains unknown. Here we show that RnlA exists in an equilibrium between two different homodimer states: an inactive resting state and an active canonical HEPN dimer. Mutants interfering with the transition between states show that canonical HEPN dimerization via the highly conserved RX4-6H motif is required for activity. The antitoxin RnlB binds the canonical HEPN dimer conformation, inhibiting RnlA by blocking access to its active site. Single-alanine substitutions mutants of the highly conserved R255, E258, R318 and H323 show that these residues are involved in catalysis and substrate binding and locate the catalytic site near the dimer interface of the canonical HEPN dimer rather than in a groove located between the HEPN domain and the preceding TBP-like domain. Overall, these findings elucidate the structural basis of the activity and inhibition of RnlA and highlight the crucial role of conformational heterogeneity in protein function.

Indexed as

DimerizationEscherichia coli ProteinsModels, MolecularMutationProtein ConformationProtein DomainsProtein MultimerizationRibonucleasesSubstrate SpecificityEscherichia coli ProteinsRibonucleasesRnlA protein, E colirnlB protein, E coli

Identifiers

PMID34139012
PMCPMC8266594
OpenAlexW3171771279

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.