Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38773269›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2024

The S-component fold: a link between bacterial transporters and receptors.

Michele Partipilo, Dirk Jan Slotboom

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2024. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Conformational regulation of two essential activators of bacterial cell elongation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
  3. 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

2 authors.

Michele PartipiloDepartment of Biochemistry, Groningen Institute of Biomolecular Sciences & Biotechnology, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4150-2341
Dirk Jan SlotboomDepartment of Biochemistry, Groningen Institute of Biomolecular Sciences & Biotechnology, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands. d.j.slotboom@rug.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-5804-9689

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The processes of nutrient uptake and signal sensing are crucial for microbial survival and adaptation. Membrane-embedded proteins involved in these functions (transporters and receptors) are commonly regarded as unrelated in terms of sequence, structure, mechanism of action and evolutionary history. Here, we analyze the protein structural universe using recently developed artificial intelligence-based structure prediction tools, and find an unexpected link between prominent groups of microbial transporters and receptors. The so-called S-components of Energy-Coupling Factor (ECF) transporters, and the membrane domains of sensor histidine kinases of the 5TMR cluster share a structural fold. The discovery of their relatedness manifests a widespread case of prokaryotic "transceptors" (related proteins with transport or receptor function), showcases how artificial intelligence-based structure predictions reveal unchartered evolutionary connections between proteins, and provides new avenues for engineering transport and signaling functions in bacteria.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsMembrane Transport ProteinsArtificial IntelligenceBacteriaHistidine KinaseModels, MolecularProtein FoldingSignal TransductionBacterial ProteinsHistidine KinaseMembrane Transport Proteins

Identifiers

PMID38773269
PMCPMC11109136

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.