PrfA, the master virulence regulator of Listeria monocytogenes: structural-functional insights, regulatory architecture, and antivirulence strategies.

Nazia Tabassum, Aqib Javaid, Abirami Karthikeyan, Tae-Hee Kim, Young-Mog Kim, Fazlurrahman Khan

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Molecular biology reports, 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

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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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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Nazia TabassumMarine Integrated Biomedical Technology Center, The National Key Research Institutes in Universities, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea.

Aqib JavaidInterdisciplinary Program of Marine and Fisheries Sciences and Convergent Technology, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea.

Abirami KarthikeyanIndustry 4.0 Convergence Bionics Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea.

Tae-Hee KimMarine Integrated Biomedical Technology Center, The National Key Research Institutes in Universities, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea.

Young-Mog KimMarine Integrated Biomedical Technology Center, The National Key Research Institutes in Universities, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea. ymkim@pknu.ac.kr.

Fazlurrahman KhanMarine Integrated Biomedical Technology Center, The National Key Research Institutes in Universities, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea. fkhan055@pknu.ac.kr.

Funding

Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education RS-2021-NR060118Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education RS-2023-00241461

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes causes listeriosis, a foodborne illness with case fatality rates of 20-30%. This bacterium tolerates a broad range of environments and can invade and replicate within human cells, properties that depend critically on PrfA (Positive Regulatory Factor A), a CRP/FNR-family transcriptional regulator. PrfA has two functional domains: an N-terminal β-barrel that binds ligands and a C-terminal helix-turn-helix motif that contacts PrfA-box sequences in target promoters. Activation is triggered by host-derived glutathione, which induces conformational changes permitting transcription of virulence genes encoding internalins, listeriolysin O, and ActA; this response is graded rather than binary. Beyond this core mechanism, PrfA integrates σ

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsListeria monocytogenesPeptide Termination FactorsBiofilmsGene Expression Regulation, BacterialHumansListeriosisVirulenceVirulence FactorsBacterial ProteinsPeptide Termination FactorsPrfA protein, Listeria monocytogenesVirulence FactorsantivirulencebiofilmglutathioneListeria monocytogenesPrfATranscriptional regulatorvirulence inhibition

Identifiers

PMID42417881

DOI10.1007/s11033-026-12322-8

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

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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.