Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41576092›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

Discovery and mechanism of negative allosteric modulation of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor by nanobodies.

Nathalie Barilone, Maria Vangelatou, F Zahra Marouf, Gabrielle Dejean de la Bâtie, Qimeng Li, Pierre Lafaye, Gabriel Aymé, Pierre-Jean Corringer, Marie S Prevost

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

9 authors.

Nathalie Barilone *Neuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.ORCID 0000-0003-0373-7262
Maria Vangelatou *Neuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.
F Zahra Marouf *Neuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.ORCID 0009-0006-4294-1062
Gabrielle Dejean de la BâtieNeuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.
Qimeng LiNeuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.
Pierre LafayeCenter for Technological Resources and Research, Antibody Engineering platform, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3528, Paris 75015, France.ORCID 0000-0002-5761-1342
Gabriel AyméCenter for Technological Resources and Research, Antibody Engineering platform, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3528, Paris 75015, France.ORCID 0000-0002-0438-8095
Pierre-Jean CorringerNeuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.
Marie S PrevostNeuroscience Department, Signaling and Receptors Dynamics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris 75015, France.ORCID 0000-0001-5621-3708

Funding

Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) ANR-21-CE37-0026Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) ANRJCJC-23-CE11-009EC | European Research Council (ERC) 788974
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

α7 nicotinic receptors are neurotransmitter-gated ion channels involved in neurological and inflammatory diseases. Ligands acting on its neurotransmitter binding site and on the channel domain of α7 have been extensively developed, yielding a wide range of orthosteric effectors and allosteric positive modulators. Here, we present the functional and structural characterization of two camelid antibody fragments, or nanobodies, F1 and E6, that inhibit α7 activity by acting as negative allosteric modulators, an underrepresented class of ligands. Cryo-EM structures of the nanobodies in complex with α7 show that both nanobodies form a pentameric bundle at the apex of the receptor, each nanobody interacting through a conserved set of residues at α7 subunit interfaces. Electrophysiological experiments suggest that E6 inhibits the activity of α7 by stabilizing its resting conformation, and that internanobodies interactions are key to its activity. Those two nanobodies expand the toolbox for human α7 modulation, opening new possibilities for its pharmacological control with far reaching potentialities in clinics.

Indexed as

alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine ReceptorSingle-Domain AntibodiesAllosteric RegulationAnimalsBinding SitesCryoelectron MicroscopyHumansLigandsModels, MolecularProtein Conformationalpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine ReceptorLigandsSingle-Domain Antibodiescryo-electron microscopynanobodiesnegative allosteric modulatorsnicotinic receptors

Identifiers

PMID41576092
PMCPMC12846786

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.