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Analysis of institutional authors

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July 3, 2019
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The moonlighting RNA-binding activity of cytosolic serine hydroxymethyltransferase contributes to control compartmentalization of serine metabolism

Publicated to:Nucleic Acids Research. 47 (8): 4240-4254 - 2019-08-01 47(8), DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz129

Authors: Guiducci, G; Paone, A; Tramonti, A; Giardina, G; Rinaldo, S; Bouzidi, A; Magnifico, MC; Marani, M; Menendez, JA; Fatica, A; Macone, A; Armaos, A; Tartaglia, GG; Contestabile, R; Paiardini, A; Cutruzzolà, F

Affiliations

Barcelona Inst Sci & Technol, Ctr Genom Regulat CRG, Dr Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain - Author
Catalan Inst Oncol, Program Canc Therapeut Resistance ProCURE, Metab & Canc Grp, Girona 17007, Catalonia, Spain - Author
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona, 08003, Spain - Author
CNR, Ist Biol & Patol Mol, I-00185 Rome, Italy - Author
Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le Aldo Moro 5, Rome, 00185, Italy - Author
Department of Biology and Biotechnology 'C. Darwin', Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Italy - Author
Girona Biomed Res Inst IDIBGI, Mol Oncol Grp, Girona 17190, Spain - Author
ICREA, Dept Life & Med Sci, 23 Passeig Lluis Companys, Barcelona 08010, Spain - Author
Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Department of Life and Medical Sciences, 23 Passeig Lluis Companys, Barcelona, 08010, Spain - Author
Istituto di Biologia e Patologia Molecolari, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Rome, 00185, Italy - Author
Molecular Oncology Group, Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI), Girona, 17190, Spain - Author
Program Against Cancer Therapeutic Resistance (ProCURE), Metabolism and Cancer Group, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Girona, Catalonia, 17007, Spain - Author
Sapienza Univ Rome, Dept Biochem Sci, Ple Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome, Italy - Author
Sapienza Univ Rome, Dept Biol & Biotechnol C Darwin, I-00185 Rome, Italy - Author
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Barcelona, 08003, Spain - Author
UPF, Dept Expt & Hlth Sci, Barcelona 08003, Spain - Author
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Abstract

© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research. Enzymes of intermediary metabolism are often reported to have moonlighting functions as RNAbinding proteins and have regulatory roles beyond their primary activities. Human serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is essential for the onecarbon metabolism, which sustains growth and proliferation in normal and tumour cells. Here, we characterize the RNA-binding function of cytosolic SHMT (SHMT1) in vitro and using cancer cell models. We show that SHMT1 controls the expression of its mitochondrial counterpart (SHMT2) by binding to the 5 untranslated region of the SHMT2 transcript (UTR2). Importantly, binding to RNA is modulated by metabolites in vitro and the formation of the SHMT1-UTR2 complex inhibits the serine cleavage activity of the SHMT1, without affecting the reverse reaction. Transfection of UTR2 in cancer cells controls SHMT1 activity and reduces cell viability.We propose a novel mechanism of SHMT regulation, which interconnects RNA and metabolites levels to control the cross-talk between cytosolic and mitochondrial compartments of serine metabolism.

Keywords

Astronomia / físicaBiochemistry & molecular biologyBiodiversidadeBiotecnologíaCiência da computaçãoCiências agrárias iCiências biológicas iCiências biológicas iiCiências biológicas iiiEngenharias iiFarmaciaGeneticsInterdisciplinarMatemática / probabilidade e estatísticaMedicina iMedicina iiNutriçãoQuímicaSaúde coletivaZootecnia / recursos pesqueiros

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 15/297, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.02. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 5.05 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-19, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 31
  • Scopus: 9
  • Europe PMC: 22
  • Open Alex: 38

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-19:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 74.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 77 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 6.35.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 11 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Italy.