Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37971522›Full record

ArticleCellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS2023

Protein aggregates act as a deterministic disruptor during bacterial cell size homeostasis.

Julien Mortier, Sander K Govers, Alexander Cambré, Ronald Van Eyken, Jolanda Verheul, Tanneke den Blaauwen, Abram Aertsen

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Deciphering the proteome ofComputational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025
    Article
  4. 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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Julien MortierDepartment of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Sander K GoversDepartment of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Alexander CambréDepartment of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Ronald Van EykenDepartment of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jolanda VerheulSwammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Bacterial Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tanneke den BlaauwenSwammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Bacterial Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abram AertsenDepartment of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. abram.aertsen@kuleuven.be.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1897-2305
KU Leuven · BENetherlands Institute for Neuroscience · NL

Funding

Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 1135116NFonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 11B0519NFonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek 11J6222NFonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G0C7118NFonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G0D8220NOnderzoeksraad, KU Leuven PDM/20/118Onderzoeksraad, KU Leuven STG/21/068
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mechanisms underlying deviant cell size fluctuations among clonal bacterial siblings are generally considered to be cryptic and stochastic in nature. However, by scrutinizing heat-stressed populations of the model bacterium Escherichia coli, we uncovered the existence of a deterministic asymmetry in cell division that is caused by the presence of intracellular protein aggregates (PAs). While these structures typically locate at the cell pole and segregate asymmetrically among daughter cells, we now show that the presence of a polar PA consistently causes a more distal off-center positioning of the FtsZ division septum. The resulting increased length of PA-inheriting siblings persists over multiple generations and could be observed in both E. coli and Bacillus subtilis populations. Closer investigation suggests that a PA can physically perturb the nucleoid structure, which subsequently leads to asymmetric septation.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsEscherichia coliBacillus subtilisBacteriaCell DivisionProtein AggregatesBacterial ProteinsProtein AggregatesAsymmetric septationBacillus subtilisBinary fissionEscherichia coliProtein aggregates

Identifiers

PMID37971522
PMCPMC11072981
OpenAlexW4388731409

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.