Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41758937›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

Oligomerization enables the selective targeting of an intrinsically disordered region by a small molecule.

Stasė Bielskutė-García, Borja Mateos, Muhammad Awawdy, Carla Garcia-Cabau, Henri Niskanen, Carolina Sánchez-Zarzalejo, Lorenzo Bracaglia, Roberta Pierattelli, Isabella C Felli, Marta Frigolé-Vivas and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

14 authors.

Stasė Bielskutė-GarcíaInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-8510-6098
Borja MateosInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-0310-4943
Muhammad AwawdyMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestraße 63-73, 14195 Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1708-2690
Carla Garcia-CabauInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0533-0642
Henri NiskanenMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestraße 63-73, 14195 Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8361-5531
Carolina Sánchez-ZarzalejoInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7059-5658
Lorenzo BracagliaCERM and Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff," University of Florence, Via Luigi Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-8197-9828
Roberta PierattelliCERM and Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff," University of Florence, Via Luigi Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7755-0885
Isabella C FelliCERM and Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff," University of Florence, Via Luigi Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6018-9090
Marta Frigolé-VivasInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-8151-5043
Jesús GarcíaInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-2961-9790
Antoni RieraInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-7142-7675
Denes HniszMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestraße 63-73, 14195 Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-6256-1693
Xavier SalvatellaInstitute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-8371-4185

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) in proteins are increasingly recognized as attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. A number of small molecules interacting with IDRs have been identified, but the lack of persistent secondary and tertiary structure of these regions has led to the prevailing view that they cannot be targeted selectively. Here, we show that a small molecule targeting an IDR evaluated in a clinical trial interacts selectively with an oligomeric form of its target, which is more structured than the monomer and is stabilized by interactions involving aromatic residues in partially α-helical regions. The interaction reshapes the conformational ensemble of the target, alters the biophysical properties of its phase-separated condensates in vitro, and attenuates RNA polymerase II recruitment in cells. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into how small molecules can selectively recognize IDRs.

Indexed as

Intrinsically Disordered ProteinsProtein MultimerizationSmall Molecule LibrariesHumansModels, MolecularProtein BindingRNA Polymerase IIIntrinsically Disordered ProteinsRNA Polymerase IISmall Molecule Libraries

Identifiers

PMID41758937
PMCPMC12947862

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.