Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40100627›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

Conserved leucine-rich repeat proteins in the adhesive projectile slime of velvet worms.

Zhaolong Hu, Alexander Baer, Lars Hering, Ivo de Sena Oliveira, Alexandre Poulhazan, Darren C Browne, Xue Guo, Quentin Moana Perrin, Radoslaw M Sobota, Shawn Hoon and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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.

Zhaolong Hu *Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-9185-9691
Alexander Baer *Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B8, Canada.
Lars HeringDepartment of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel D-34132, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4469-991X
Ivo de Sena OliveiraDepartment of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel D-34132, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8340-7660
Alexandre PoulhazanDepartment of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B8, Canada.
Darren C BrowneDepartment of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Barbados BB11000, West Indies.ORCID 0000-0003-3590-9153
Xue GuoFunctional Proteomics Laboratory, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore 138673, Singapore.
Quentin Moana PerrinCentre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Radoslaw M SobotaFunctional Proteomics Laboratory, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore 138673, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-2455-2526
Shawn HoonMolecular Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore 138673, Singapore.
Georg MayerDepartment of Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel D-34132, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-0737-2440
Srinivasaraghavan KannanBioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore 138671, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-9539-5249
Chandra S VermaBioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore 138671, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-0733-9798
Matthew J HarringtonDepartment of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B8, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-1417-9251
Ali MiserezCentre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-0864-8170

Funding

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Feodor Lynen Research FellowshipCanada Research Chair Award (Tier 2) 950-231953Canadian Government | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) RGPIN-2018-05243German Research Foundation MA 4147/7-1 and 4147/2Singapore Energy Centre (SgEC) N.A.Singapore National Research Foundation SingMass" scheme (RMS)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The slime of velvet worms (Onychophora) is a protein-based bioadhesive that undergoes rapid, yet reversible transition from a fluid into stiff fibers used for prey capture and defense, but the mechanism by which this phase transition functions is largely unknown. Here, integrating transcriptomic and proteomic approaches with AI-guided structure predictions, we discover a group of evolutionarily conserved leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins in velvet worm slime that readily adopt a receptor-like, protein-binding "horseshoe" structure. Our structural predictions suggest dimerization of LRR proteins and support their interactions with conserved β-sheet-rich domains of high-molecular-weight proteins, the primary building blocks of velvet worm slime fibers. This suggests that LRR proteins might be involved in reversible, receptor-based supramolecular interactions in these biofibers, providing potential avenues for fabricating fully recyclable (bio)polymeric materials.

Indexed as

ProteinsAdhesivesAmino Acid SequenceAnimalsLeucine-Rich Repeat ProteinsProteomicsAdhesivesLeucine-Rich Repeat ProteinsProteinsfiber formationOnychophoraproteomicsstructure predictiontranscriptomic

Identifiers

PMID40100627
PMCPMC11962477

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.