Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39666767›Full record

ArticlePLoS pathogens2024

Structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 Type IV pilus.

Hannah Ochner, Jan Böhning, Zhexin Wang, Abul K Tarafder, Ido Caspy, Tanmay A M Bharat

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS pathogens, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing 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

15 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Structural modeling reveals the mechanism of motor ATPase coordination during type IV pilus retraction.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Role of cell-associated and secretion-independent virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in microbial keratitis and anti-virulence therapeutic strategies.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
    Review
  5. mBio · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Exogenous KFrontiers in microbiology · 2026
    Article
  8. Separation ofmBio · 2025
    Article
  9. Structure of the virulence-associatedProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. 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

6 authors.

Hannah OchnerStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Jan BöhningStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Zhexin WangStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Abul K TarafderStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Ido CaspyStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Tanmay A M BharatStructural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-0168-0277

Funding

Medical Research Council EP/V026623/1Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Type IV pili (T4Ps) are abundant in many bacterial and archaeal species, where they play important roles in both surface sensing and twitching motility, with implications for adhesion, biofilm formation and pathogenicity. While Type IV pilus (T4P) structures from other organisms have been previously solved, a high-resolution structure of the native, fully assembled T4P of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major human pathogen, would be valuable in a drug discovery context. Here, we report a 3.2 Å-resolution structure of the P. aeruginosa PAO1 T4P determined by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM). PilA subunits constituting the T4P exhibit a classical pilin fold featuring an extended N-terminal α-helix linked to a C-terminal globular β-sheet-containing domain, which are packed tightly along the pilus, in line with models derived from previous cryo-EM data of the P. aeruginosa PAK strain. The N-terminal helices constitute the pilus core where they stabilise the tubular assembly via hydrophobic interactions. The α-helical core of the pilus is surrounded by the C-terminal globular domain of PilA that coats the outer surface of the pilus, mediating interactions with the surrounding environment. Comparison of the P. aeruginosa PAO1 T4P with T4P structures from other organisms, both at the level of the pilin subunits and the fully assembled pili, confirms previously described common architectural principles whilst highlighting key differences between members of this abundant class of prokaryotic filaments. This study provides a structural framework for understanding the molecular and cell biology of these important cellular appendages mediating interaction of prokaryotes to surfaces.

Indexed as

Cryoelectron MicroscopyFimbriae, BacterialFimbriae ProteinsPseudomonas aeruginosaModels, MolecularProtein ConformationFimbriae Proteins

Identifiers

PMID39666767
PMCPMC11670995

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.