Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42263124›Full record

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

Cryo-EM reveals a right-handed double-helix dimer architecture of PCDH15.

Xiaoping Liang, Roshan Pathak, Xufeng Qiu, Lucas Dillard, Edward C Twomey, Ulrich Müller

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

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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

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Xiaoping LiangThe Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.ORCID 0009-0005-4542-8814
Roshan PathakDepartment of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.ORCID 0009-0001-9983-5491
Xufeng QiuThe Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Lucas DillardDepartment of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Edward C TwomeyDepartment of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.ORCID 0000-0002-1855-1586
Ulrich MüllerThe Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.ORCID 0000-0003-2736-6494

Funding

Mechanosensor Development, Function, and DysfunctionR01DC005965 · NIDCD · SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THE · PI MUELLER, ULRICH · 2003 to 2023
$10.2M
Ligand Gated Ion Channels Across Time and SpaceR35GM154904 · NIGMS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Edward C Twomey · 2024 to 2026
$1.2M
HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) GM154904HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) GM157915HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) DC005965HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) DC023325NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC005965NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM154904
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tip links connect the stereocilia of mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear and transmit force onto mechanotransduction (MET) channels. Tip links consist of protocadherin 15 (PCDH15) and cadherin 23, which assemble into an extracellular filament approximately 150 nm in length. Rare freeze-etched electron microscopy (EM) images have suggested that tip links could be right-handed double helices in vivo, but direct structural evidence has been lacking. Using cryo-EM we determined the structure of a large part of the extracellular PCDH15 domain. Two PCDH15 molecules form a parallel cis dimer stabilized by several dimerization interfaces, including two strand crossovers and two parallel contacts, yielding a right-handed double helix. Functional studies show that mutations in PCDH15 dimerization-domains impair MET. Our results establish the molecular foundation for how PCDH15 forms a right-handed double helix to enable mechanical sensing.

Indexed as

CadherinsProtein PrecursorsAnimalsCadherin Related ProteinsCryoelectron MicroscopyHumansMechanotransduction, CellularMiceModels, MolecularMutationProtein DomainsProtein MultimerizationProtocadherinsCadherin Related ProteinsCadherinsCDHR15 protein, mouseProtein PrecursorsProtocadherinscryo-EMhair cellmechanotransductionPCDH15tip link

Identifiers

PMID42263124
PMCPMC13273323

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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.