Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40268890›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Conformational changes in the motor ATPase CpaF facilitate a rotary mechanism of Tad pilus assembly.

Ian Y Yen, Gregory B Whitfield, John L Rubinstein, Lori L Burrows, Yves V Brun, P Lynne Howell

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 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. mBio · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Separation ofmBio · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. 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.

Ian Y YenProgram in Molecular Medicine, Peter Gilgan Center for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1122-4443
Gregory B WhitfieldDépartement de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0274-8402
John L RubinsteinProgram in Molecular Medicine, Peter Gilgan Center for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0566-2209
Lori L BurrowsBiochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. lori.burrows@mcmaster.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0838-5040
Yves V BrunDépartement de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada. yves.brun@umontreal.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9289-1909
P Lynne HowellProgram in Molecular Medicine, Peter Gilgan Center for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada. howell@sickkids.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2776-062X

Funding

Canada Research Chairs (Chaires de recherche du Canada) Tier IFonds de Recherche du Québec - Nature et Technologies (Quebec Fund for Research in Nature and Technology) Postdoctoral fellowshipGouvernement du Canada | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Instituts de Recherche en Santé du Canada) PJT-169053Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles et en Génie du Canada) Postgraduate Scholarships - DoctoralHospital for Sick Children (SickKids) RESTRACOMP studentship
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The type IV pilus family uses PilT/VirB11-like ATPases to rapidly assemble and disassemble pilin subunits. Among these, the tight adherence (Tad) pilus performs both functions using a single bifunctional ATPase, CpaF. Here, we determine three conformationally distinct structures of CpaF hexamers with varying nucleotide occupancies by cryo-electron microscopy. Analysis of these structures suggest ATP binding and hydrolysis expand and rotate the hexamer pore clockwise while subsequent ADP release contracts the ATPase. Truncation of the intrinsically disordered region of CpaF in Caulobacter crescentus equally reduces pilus extension and retraction events observed using fluorescence microscopy, but does not reduce ATPase activity. AlphaFold3 modeling suggests that CpaF and other motors of the type IV filament superfamily employ conserved secondary structural features to engage their respective platform proteins. From these data, we propose that CpaF uses a clockwise, rotary mechanism of catalysis to assemble a right-handed, helical Tad pilus, a process broadly applicable to other single motor systems.

Indexed as

Adenosine TriphosphatasesBacterial ProteinsCaulobacter crescentusFimbriae, BacterialAdenosine TriphosphateCryoelectron MicroscopyFimbriae ProteinsModels, MolecularProtein ConformationAdenosine TriphosphatasesAdenosine TriphosphateBacterial ProteinsFimbriae Proteins

Identifiers

PMID40268890
PMCPMC12019362

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.