Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute @danafarber.bsky.social · 13h

Congratulations to Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., Professor of Cancer Immunology and Virology, who was one of three scientists awarded top honors at the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists.

Watch to learn more about his work: bit.ly/4pZUDkF

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Ben Adler @benadler.bsky.social · 7d

Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems.

Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature

Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

www.nature.com

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Ben Morehouse @benmorehouse.bsky.social · 7d

Our story describing the Panoptes bacterial immune defense system is now finally peer-reviewed and published today! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature

The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.

www.nature.com

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Kranzusch Lab @kranzuschlab.bsky.social · 13d

You’ve heard of ubiquitination, meet deazaguanylation: Doug Wassarman in our lab discovered phage defense pathways have co-opted Q nucleobase biosynthetic enzymes to catalyze a new form of protein conjugation chemistry @science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Kranzusch Lab @kranzuschlab.bsky.social · 16d

The mechanism of STING NF-κB signaling has remained a mystery. An exciting new study from the Paludan lab now uses data throughout animal STING evolution to provide new answers – including isolating white blood cells from turtles and carp!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

STING signals to NF-κB from late endolysosomal compartments using IRF3 as an adaptor - Nature Immunology

Here the authors show how the DNA-sensing cGAS–STING pathway activates NF-κB and inflammatory gene expression with delayed kinetics via post-Golgi endolysosomal signaling.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Jörg Vogel @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social · 28d

Looking for a new approach to studying or eliminating phages? Check out our study introducing anti-phage ASOs (antisense oligos) out in @Nature today. nature.com/articles/s4158…

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Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 29d

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates

Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates, the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over surfaces without cell deformat...

www.cell.com

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Sep 8

Same ! I'll invite you to come give a seminar so we'll have time to chat :)

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Jason Nomburg @jnoms.bsky.social · Sep 4

Come join the Nomburg Lab in lovely Vienna! As our first listing, we have a research technician position available to help support the research and operations of the lab. If you're passionate about virology and innate immunity, apply here!

aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/3njyn4ey

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Sep 8

Congratulations! Welcome to Europe :)

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Vardilab @vardilab.bsky.social · Sep 4

📣 We are excited to share our latest paper, led by @taliashaler.bsky.social! We explore the transcriptional basis of #microalgae resistance to #viral_infection and identified a core group of resistance-related genes. >>
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#New_Phytologist #Marine_Biology #Viruses

Mapping the transcriptional landscape of algal resistance to viral infection reveals a core expression program

Algal blooms and their demise by viruses drive global-scale ecological processes in the ocean. These blooms form the foundation of marine food webs, regulate microbial communities, and shape biogeoc...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Zeynep Baharoglu @zeynepbaharoglu.bsky.social · Sep 6

So excited our antibiotic potentiation story is out 🤩 Led by the extraordinary @manonlang.bsky.social with @fox-science.bsky.social & @amazeld.bsky.social +amazing collaborators @immunobladder.bsky.social @imaneelmeouche.bsky.social 🦠 We believe it can make a difference in #AMR infections!

Uridine as a potentiator of aminoglycosides through activation of carbohydrate transporters

Uridine boosts aminoglycoside treatment efficiency against antibiotic-susceptible as well as antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

François Rousset @francoisrousset.bsky.social · Sep 5

Effector-triggered immunity (ETI) indirectly detects pathogen effector activity on the host cell.

Kevin Barthes,Tanita Wein and I examine how prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses deploy similar effectors that activate ETI, underscoring its central role across the tree of life.

tinyurl.com/mr3a3xh2

Viral effectors trigger innate immunity across the tree of life | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Viruses are ubiquitous biological entities that exert immense selective pressures on their hosts, driving the evolution of diverse innate immune mechanisms across all domains of life. While innate imm...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Sep 5

YAYYYY, Immune systems of choano !!!!
Beautiful to see how knowledge about bacterial immune systems illuminate immunology in diverse organisms with the always incredible biochemistry and structural approaches of @kranzuschlab.bsky.social.
Wonderful work @yao-li.bsky.social 👏

Kranzusch Lab @kranzuschlab.bsky.social · Sep 5

How can we understand the earliest events in evolution of eukaryotic immunity? @yao-li.bsky.social reports incredible molecular fossils of complete bacterial-like operons in eukaryotes that illuminate how animal immunity was first acquired from anti-phage defense

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Sep 4

Thanks to the authors of this piece. I love reading about the work of inspiring pioneers in bacterial genetics. Crazy amount of discoveries!

Pioneer of bacterial genetics: the legacy of Esther Miriam Lederberg
academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

Pioneer of bacterial genetics: the legacy of Esther Miriam Lederberg

Abstract. Esther Miriam Lederberg's brilliant scientific lifework, from the discovery of phage lambda, bacterial conjugation, and replica plating, provided

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Jeremy Garb @garbjeremy.bsky.social · Sep 2

📢 New preprint alert!
We designed synthetic proteins that can block bacterial immune systems, allowing phages + plasmids to overcome natural defenses.
This could transform phage therapy + genetic engineering.
Here’s what we found 🧵
Preprint🔗: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Synthetically designed anti-defense proteins overcome barriers to bacterial transformation and phage infection

Bacterial defense systems present considerable barriers to both phage infection and plasmid transformation. These systems target mobile genetic elements, limiting the efficacy of bacteriophage-based t...

www.biorxiv.org

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Sorek Lab @soreklab.bsky.social · Sep 2

Preprint: De-novo design of proteins that inhibit bacterial defenses

Our approach allows silencing defense systems of choice. We show how this approach enables programming of “untransformable” bacteria, and how it can enhance phage therapy applications

Congrats Jeremy Garb!
tinyurl.com/Syttt
🧵

Synthetically designed anti-defense proteins overcome barriers to bacterial transformation and phage infection

Bacterial defense systems present considerable barriers to both phage infection and plasmid transformation. These systems target mobile genetic elements, limiting the efficacy of bacteriophage-based t...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Institut Pasteur | 130 years of biomedical research @pasteur.fr · Sep 2

👏 Huge congrats to @audeber.bsky.social, group leader and head of our Molecular Diversity of Microbes lab, on being named a 2025 Vallee Scholar! Her pioneering work on ancestral immunity opens new perspectives for biomedical innovation. 🔬🌍

@valleefoundation.bsky.social

#Science #Immunity

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Aug 25

Super cool study revealing the diversity of viral sponges.

I love the scale of the work with great experimental assays underlying a systematic approach!

Congrats to @romihadary.bsky.social and @reneechang.bsky.social for this beautiful piece of science.

Romi Hadary @romihadary.bsky.social · Aug 25

📢 Preprint out!
Together with @reneechang.bsky.social @kranzuschlab.bsky.social and the amazing @soreklab.bsky.social, we explored viral sponges to map their diversity and function.

Discovered huge diversity, including sponges that inhibit Pycsar & Type IV Thoeris!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Functional diversity of phage sponge proteins that sequester host immune signals

Multiple bacterial immune systems, including CBASS, Thoeris, and Pycsar, employ signaling molecules that activate the immune response following phage infection. Phages counteract bacterial immune sign...

www.biorxiv.org

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Aug 21

Great study indeed, demonstrating how functional amyloid mediate antiphage defense.

Probably many more systems out there working that way!

Ben Morehouse @benmorehouse.bsky.social · Aug 21

Very interesting work from Ibarlosa and colleagues regarding functional amyloid forming proteins in prokaryotic immunity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Check out our News & Views summary of the work as well!
rdcu.be/eBHxh

Amyloids in bacterial antiphage defence

Nature Microbiology - Bacterial prions form amyloids in response to phage infection and induce cell death to prevent viral replication, similar to the processes in fungi and across the tree of life.

rdcu.be

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Ben Morehouse @benmorehouse.bsky.social · Aug 21

Very interesting work from Ibarlosa and colleagues regarding functional amyloid forming proteins in prokaryotic immunity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Check out our News & Views summary of the work as well!
rdcu.be/eBHxh

Amyloids in bacterial antiphage defence

Nature Microbiology - Bacterial prions form amyloids in response to phage infection and induce cell death to prevent viral replication, similar to the processes in fungi and across the tree of life.

rdcu.be

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Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Aug 18

Awesome, congratulations!!!

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Luuk Loeff @lloeff.bsky.social · Aug 18

Exciting times ahead!

Today marks the first day of the Loeff Lab at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands 🇳🇱. I’m thrilled to begin this new adventure and continue exploring microbial defense mechanisms and their applications through an integrative structural biology approach.

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Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Aug 15

#NewResearch

Prion-like proteins in Escherichia coli trigger an abortive infection mechanism in response to phage infection—a process similar to amyloid-mediated immune signalling in fungi and animals.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Characterization of an amyloid-based antiphage defence system in Escherichia coli - Nature Microbiology

Prion-like proteins in Escherichia coli trigger an abortive infection mechanism in response to phage infection—a process similar to amyloid-mediated immune signalling in fungi and animals.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Aude Bernheim

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Aug 1

#NatMicroPicks

Ancient Proteins, Modern Immune Insights! 🦠

A conserved protein family member activates inflammation via the Toll-like receptor pathway in mammals highlighting new aspects of human immunity.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins mediates immunity via the Toll-like receptor pathway

Key actors of mammalian immunity originated from bacterial antiphage systems. The full extent of immune system conservation between bacteria and eukaryotes is unknown. Here, we show that the silent in...

www.science.org

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