Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42525751›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

COQ8 chaperones coenzyme Q lipid intermediates through ATP-driven structural gating.

Andrea Gottinger, Marco Malatesta, Callum R Nicoll, Georg Ansari, Mathieu Quinodoz, Karolina Kaminska, Rachael W C Tang, Tien-En Tan, Beau J Fenner, Pilar Barberán-Martínez and 7 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. 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

17 authors.

Andrea GottingerDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-0859-5569
Marco MalatestaDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-5668-0787
Callum R NicollDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-2122-9387
Georg AnsariDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0009-0008-4693-2061
Mathieu QuinodozDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9841-4433
Karolina KaminskaDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-4720-5527
Rachael W C TangSingapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0009-0002-8281-8617
Tien-En TanSingapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-9869-5159
Beau J FennerSingapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-5356-7604
Pilar Barberán-MartínezMolecular, Cellular, and Genomic Biomedicine Group, Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-3604-7068
Gema García-GarcíaMolecular, Cellular, and Genomic Biomedicine Group, Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-2113-0600
José M MillánMolecular, Cellular, and Genomic Biomedicine Group, Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7211-9129
Maximilian PfauDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Natalie E BurbachDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Domiziana CecchiniDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Carlo RivoltaDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-0733-9950
Andrea MatteviDepartment of Biology and Biotechnology 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-9523-7128

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Coenzyme Q biosynthesis requires two atypical kinase-like proteins (COQ8A and COQ8B), whose detailed molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we show that both paralogs function as adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) that promote coenzyme Q biosynthetic metabolon activity by engaging in loose protein-protein interactions and delivering insoluble biosynthetic intermediates. Structural bioinformatics and pathological variant-driven mutagenesis identify a previously uncharacterized pocket that selectively recognizes coenzyme Q biosynthetic intermediates via their head groups. X-ray crystallography reveals that access to this pocket is gated by long-range conformational changes controlled by adenosine 5'-triphosphate hydrolysis. Last, excess coenzyme Q suppresses binding of early-stage intermediates and thereby abolishes the promoting effect of COQ8 on the metabolon. Together, these findings support a model in which COQ8 tunes coenzyme Q biosynthesis by coupling ATPase-driven intermediate chaperoning to feedback inhibition by the final product.

Indexed as

Adenosine TriphosphateMolecular ChaperonesUbiquinoneAdenosine TriphosphatasesCrystallography, X-RayHumansMitochondrial ProteinsModels, MolecularProtein BindingProtein ConformationAdenosine TriphosphatasesAdenosine TriphosphateCOQ8A protein, humanMitochondrial ProteinsMolecular ChaperonesUbiquinone

Identifiers

PMID42525751
PMCPMC13418538

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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.