Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39752508›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Multistate kinetics of the syringe-like injection mechanism of Tc toxins.

Peter Njenga Ng'ang'a, Julian Folz, Svetlana Kucher, Daniel Roderer, Ying Xu, Oleg Sitsel, Alexander Belyy, Daniel Prumbaum, Ralf Kühnemuth, Tufa E Assafa and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing 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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Genomic characterization ofMicrobial genomics · 2025
    Article
  5. Review
  6. 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

14 authors.

Peter Njenga Ng'ang'aDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0342-0735
Julian FolzChair of Molecular Physical Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8232-8787
Svetlana KucherDepartment of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Daniel RodererDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7276-3467
Ying XuDepartment of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8888-786X
Oleg SitselDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4496-7489
Alexander BelyyDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3106-6574
Daniel PrumbaumDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-7448-9951
Ralf KühnemuthChair of Molecular Physical Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Tufa E AssafaFaculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-2352-685X
Min DongDepartment of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1744-7293
Claus A M SeidelChair of Molecular Physical Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-5171-149X
Enrica BordignonDepartment of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-2450-5161
Stefan RaunserDepartment of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9373-3016

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tc toxins are pore-forming virulence factors of many pathogenic bacteria. Following pH-induced conformational changes, they perforate the target membrane like a syringe to translocate toxic enzymes into a cell. Although this complex transformation has been structurally well studied, the reaction pathway and the resulting temporal evolution have remained elusive. We used an integrated biophysical approach to monitor prepore-to-pore transition and found a reaction time of ~30 hours for a complete transition. We show two asynchronous general steps of the process, shell opening and channel ejection, with the overall reaction pathway being a slow multistep process involving three intermediates. Liposomes, an increasingly high pH, or receptors facilitate shell opening, which is directly correlated with an increased rate of the prepore-to-pore transition. Channel ejection is a near-instantaneous process which occurs with a transition time of <60 milliseconds. Understanding the mechanism of action of Tc toxins and unveiling modulators of the kinetics are key steps toward their application as biomedical devices or biopesticides.

Indexed as

Bacterial ToxinsHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationKineticsLiposomesBacterial ToxinsLiposomes

Identifiers

PMID39752508
PMCPMC11698121

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.