Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39809875›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

Evolutionary plasticity and functional repurposing of the essential metabolic enzyme MoeA.

Daniela Megrian, Mariano Martinez, Pedro M Alzari, Anne Marie Wehenkel

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Structural basis ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Daniela MegrianInstitut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3528, Université Paris Cité, Structural Microbiology Unit, F-75015, Paris, France. dmegrian@pasteur.edu.uy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6272-6814
Mariano MartinezInstitut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3528, Université Paris Cité, Structural Microbiology Unit, F-75015, Paris, France.
Pedro M AlzariInstitut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3528, Université Paris Cité, Structural Microbiology Unit, F-75015, Paris, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4233-1903
Anne Marie WehenkelInstitut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3528, Université Paris Cité, Structural Microbiology Unit, F-75015, Paris, France. anne-marie.wehenkel@pasteur.fr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2327-6512

Funding

ChimeraX -- Next Generation Visualization and Analysis Software for Multiscale ModelingR01GM129325 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI FERRIN, THOMAS E · 2018 to 2025
$5.2M
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) ANR-18-CE11-0017Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) ANR-21-CE11-0003NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM129325
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

MoeA, also known as gephyrin in higher eukaryotes, is an enzyme essential for molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis and involved in GABA and GlyR receptor clustering at the synapse in animals. We recently discovered that Actinobacteria have a repurposed version of MoeA (Glp) linked to bacterial cell division. Since MoeA exists in all domains of life, our study explores how it gained multifunctionality over time. We use phylogenetic inference and protein structure analyses to study its diversity and evolutionary history. Glp-expressing Bacteria have at least two copies of the gene, and analysis of their putative active sites suggests that Glp lost its enzymatic role. In Archaea, we find an ancestral duplication, with one paralog that may bind tungsten instead of molybdenum. Early eukaryotes acquired MoeA from Bacteria, MogA fused with MoeA in the opisthokont ancestors, and it finally gained roles in anchoring inhibitory neurotransmitters. Our findings highlight MoeA's functional versatility and repurposing.

Indexed as

Carrier ProteinsCoenzymesEvolution, MolecularMembrane ProteinsMetalloproteinsActinobacteriaArchaeaMolybdenum CofactorsPhylogenyPteridinesCarrier ProteinsCoenzymesgephyrinMembrane ProteinsMetalloproteinsMolybdenum CofactorsmolybdopterinPteridines

Identifiers

PMID39809875
PMCPMC11733289

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.