Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39546574›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024

S-adenosyl-L-methionine is the unexpected methyl donor for the methylation of mercury by the membrane-associated HgcAB complex.

Kaiyuan Zheng, Katherine W Rush, Swapneeta S Date, Alexander Johs, Jerry M Parks, Angela S Fleischhacker, Macon J Abernathy, Ritimukta Sarangi, Stephen W Ragsdale

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 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. Article
  2. Review
  3. An unusual Co-S bond links BProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 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

9 authors.

Kaiyuan ZhengDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606.ORCID 0000-0002-9599-3679
Katherine W RushDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606.ORCID 0000-0001-6842-9055
Swapneeta S DateEnvironmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6038.ORCID 0000-0002-4086-110X
Alexander JohsEnvironmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6038.
Jerry M ParksBiosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6309.ORCID 0000-0002-3103-9333
Angela S FleischhackerDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606.ORCID 0000-0003-0818-3203
Macon J AbernathyDepartment of Structural Molecular Biology, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025.ORCID 0000-0002-0455-2086
Ritimukta SarangiDepartment of Structural Molecular Biology, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025.ORCID 0000-0002-2764-2279
Stephen W RagsdaleDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606.ORCID 0000-0003-3938-8906

Funding

A Synchrotron Radiation Structural Biology ResourcesP30GM133894 · NIGMS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Aina E. Cohen, KEITH O HODGSON · 2020 to 2026
$43.3M
Metalloprotein Mechanisms of Redox Regulation and CatalysisR35GM141758 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI RAGSDALE, STEPHEN WILEY · 2021 to 2025
$3.0M
Biochemical Mechanism of Mercury MethylationR01GM124174 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI RAGSDALE, STEPHEN WILEY · 2018 to 2021
$877k
HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35-GM141758NIGMS NIH HHS P30 GM133894NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM124174NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM141758U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC05-00OR22725U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) FWP 100593
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) is a heavy metal that exhibits high biological toxicity. Monomethylmercury and dimethylmercury are neurotoxins and a significant environmental concern as they bioaccumulate and biomagnify within the aquatic food web. Microbial Hg methylation involves two proteins, HgcA and HgcB. Here, we show that HgcA and HgcB can be heterologously coexpressed, and the HgcAB complex can be purified. We demonstrated that HgcA is a membrane-associated cobalamin-dependent methyltransferase and HgcB is a ferredoxin-like protein containing two [4Fe-4S] clusters. Further, spectroscopic and kinetic results demonstrate that S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) donates the methyl group to Hg in a two-step reaction involving a methylcob(III)alamin intermediate including Co-thiolate ligation from a conserved Cys residue. Our findings uncover a biological role for SAM in microbial Hg methylation.

Indexed as

MercuryS-AdenosylmethionineBacterial ProteinsCell MembraneKineticsMethylationMethyltransferasesVitamin B 12Bacterial ProteinsMercuryMethyltransferasesS-AdenosylmethionineVitamin B 12cobalaminiron-sulfurmethyl mercurymethyltransferaseS-adenosyl-L-methionine

Identifiers

PMID39546574
PMCPMC11588087

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.