Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34984754›Full record

ArticleProtein science : a publication of the Protein Society2022

Phylogenetic convergence of phase separation and mitotic function in the disordered protein BuGZ.

Alexander F Chin, Yixian Zheng, Vincent J Hilser

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. SHARK-capture identifies functional motifs in intrinsically disordered protein regions.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. 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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alexander F ChinDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0498-2577
Yixian ZhengDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Vincent J HilserDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Johns Hopkins University · US

Funding

Thermodynamics of Protein FluctuationsR01GM063747 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BR GALVESTON · PI HILSER, VINCENT J. · 2001 to 2023
$7.9M
Allostery in an intrinsically disordered transcription factorR01GM126130 · NIGMS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI HILSER, VINCENT J. · 2018 to 2021
$1.3M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM063747NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM126130
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) effect biological function despite their sequence-encoded lack of preference for stable three-dimensional structure. Among their many functions, IDPs form membraneless cellular compartments through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), also termed biomolecular condensation. The extent to which LLPS has been evolutionarily selected remains largely unknown, as the complexities of IDP evolution hamper progress. Unlike structured proteins, rapid sequence divergence typical of IDPs confounds inference of their biophysical or biological functions from comparative sequence analyses. Here, we leverage mitosis as a universal eukaryotic feature to interrogate condensate evolutionary history. We observe that evolution has conserved the ability for six homologs of the mitotic IDP BuGZ to undergo LLPS and to serve the same mitotic function, despite low sequence conservation. We also observe that cellular context may tune LLPS. The phylogenetic correlation of LLPS and mitotic function in one protein raises the possibility of an ancient evolutionary interplay between LLPS and biological function, dating back at least 1.6 billion years to the last common ancestor of plants and animals.

Indexed as

Intrinsically Disordered ProteinsAnimalsPhylogenyIntrinsically Disordered Proteinsevolutionary conservationintrinsically disordered proteinLLPSmitotic spindlephase separationpolyglutamine

Identifiers

PMID34984754
PMCPMC8927863
OpenAlexW4205999241

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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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.