Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37028467›Full record

ArticleJournal of structural biology2023

Single particle cryo-EM analysis of Rickettsia conorii Sca2 reveals a formin-like core.

Peter J Carman, Grzegorz Rebowski, Roberto Dominguez, Saif S Alqassim

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of structural biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 27% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Life science alliance · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. PathogenicJournal of bacteriology · 2024
    Review
  6. 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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Peter J CarmanDepartment of Physiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Grzegorz RebowskiDepartment of Physiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Roberto DominguezDepartment of Physiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Saif S AlqassimCollege of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: saif.alqassim@mbru.ac.ae.
University of Pennsylvania · USMohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences · AE

Funding

Structural-Functional Basis of Actin Cytoskeleton DynamicsR01GM073791 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI DOMINGUEZ, ROBERTO · 2005 to 2025
$7.0M
Computational Resource for Structural Biology and Molecular BiophysicsS10OD023592 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI SHARP, KIM A · 2017 to 2017
$402k
Unadulterated expression of tropomyosin isoforms and their interactions with F-actin, tropomodulin and leiomodinF31HL156431 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI CARMAN, PETER J · 2021 to 2021
$33k
NCI NIH HHS HHSN261200800001ENHLBI NIH HHS F31 HL156431NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM073791NIH HHS S10 OD023592
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spotted fever group Rickettsia undergo actin-based motility inside infected eukaryotic cells using Sca2 (surface cell antigen 2): an ∼ 1800 amino-acid monomeric autotransporter protein that is surface-attached to the bacterium and responsible for the assembly of long unbranched actin tails. Sca2 is the only known functional mimic of eukaryotic formins, yet it shares no sequence similarities to the latter. Using structural and biochemical approaches we have previously shown that Sca2 uses a novel actin assembly mechanism. The first ∼ 400 amino acids fold into helix-loop-helix repeats that form a crescent shape reminiscent of a formin FH2 monomer. Additionally, the N- and C- terminal halves of Sca2 display intramolecular interaction in an end-to-end manner and cooperate for actin assembly, mimicking a formin FH2 dimer. Towards a better structural understanding of this mechanism, we performed single-particle cryo-electron microscopy analysis of Sca2. While high-resolution structural details remain elusive, our model confirms the presence of a formin-like core: Sca2 indeed forms a doughnut shape, similar in diameter to a formin FH2 dimer and can accommodate two actin subunits. Extra electron density, thought to be contributed by the C-terminal repeat domain (CRD), covering one side is also observed. This structural analysis allows us to propose an updated model where nucleation proceeds by encircling two actin subunits, and elongation proceeds either by a formin-like mechanism that necessitates conformational changes in the observed Sca2 model, or via an insertional mechanism akin to that observed in the ParMRC system.

Indexed as

ActinsRickettsia conoriiActin CytoskeletonCryoelectron MicroscopyForminsProtein Structure, TertiaryActinsForminsActin assemblyAutotransporterFH2ForminSpotted fever group Rickettsia

Identifiers

PMID37028467
PMCPMC10200769
OpenAlexW4362640062

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.