Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39198435›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

Trifunctional sphingomyelin derivatives enable nanoscale resolution of sphingomyelin turnover in physiological and infection processes via expansion microscopy.

Marcel Rühling, Louise Kersting, Fabienne Wagner, Fabian Schumacher, Dominik Wigger, Dominic A Helmerich, Tom Pfeuffer, Robin Elflein, Christian Kappe, Markus Sauer and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing 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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. mBio · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
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

15 authors.

Marcel Rühling *Chair of Microbiology, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0009-0006-4757-5014
Louise Kersting *Institute of Organic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-0192-5788
Fabienne WagnerChair of Microbiology, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0009-0006-7828-026X
Fabian SchumacherInstitute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8703-3275
Dominik WiggerInstitute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Dominic A HelmerichChair of Biotechnology & Biophysics, Biocenter, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Tom PfeufferInstitute of Organic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Robin ElfleinInstitute of Organic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Christian KappeInstitute of Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str 2, Berlin, Germany.
Markus SauerChair of Biotechnology & Biophysics, Biocenter, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1692-3219
Christoph ArenzInstitute of Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str 2, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-7613-9437
Burkhard KleuserInstitute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1888-9595
Thomas RudelChair of Microbiology, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4740-6991
Martin FraunholzChair of Microbiology, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4581-6244
Jürgen SeibelInstitute of Organic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. seibel@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de.ORCID 0000-0002-8036-4853

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) Project number 417857878
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sphingomyelin is a key molecule of sphingolipid metabolism, and its enzymatic breakdown is associated with various infectious diseases. Here, we introduce trifunctional sphingomyelin derivatives that enable the visualization of sphingomyelin distribution and sphingomyelinase activity in infection processes. We demonstrate this by determining the activity of a bacterial sphingomyelinase on the plasma membrane of host cells using a combination of Förster resonance energy transfer and expansion microscopy. We further use our trifunctional sphingomyelin probes to visualize their metabolic state during infections with Chlamydia trachomatis and thereby show that chlamydial inclusions primarily contain the cleaved forms of the molecules. Using expansion microscopy, we observe that the proportion of metabolized molecules increases during maturation from reticulate to elementary bodies, indicating different membrane compositions between the two chlamydial developmental forms. Expansion microscopy of trifunctional sphingomyelins thus provides a powerful microscopy tool to analyze sphingomyelin metabolism in cells at nanoscale resolution.

Indexed as

Cell MembraneChlamydia trachomatisSphingomyelin PhosphodiesteraseSphingomyelinsChlamydia InfectionsFluorescence Resonance Energy TransferHeLa CellsHumansMicroscopySphingomyelin PhosphodiesteraseSphingomyelins

Identifiers

PMID39198435
PMCPMC11358447

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Registered trials

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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.