Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42094371›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Chemical suppression of a bacterial immune system revives repressed phages.

Chengqian Zhang, Dziugas Sabonis, Yanyao Cai, Zhiyu Zang, Giedre Tamulaitiene, Joseph P Gerdt

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 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

6 authors.

Chengqian ZhangDepartment of Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA.
Dziugas SabonisInstitute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania.
Yanyao CaiDepartment of Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA.
Zhiyu ZangDepartment of Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA.
Giedre TamulaitieneInstitute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania.
Joseph P GerdtDepartment of Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0375-4110

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many antiviral immune systems have recently been discovered in bacteria. The mechanisms of several are obscure, as are their individual significance for antiphage defense. To shed light on the mechanism and significance of the two-component type I Thoeris antiphage immune system, we leveraged high-throughput phenotypic screening to identify three small molecule inhibitors. The inhibitors target the ThsA NADase component, inhibiting its 3'-cADPR-activated filamentation. The temporal control afforded by the small-molecule inhibitors allowed us to answer an outstanding question in antiviral immunity-is persistent immunity required to repress phage titers, or do immune systems become unnecessary after eradicating infectious phages? We found that Thoeris immunity must be maintained, as chemical inhibition enabled repressed phages to revive and overtake the bacterial population. Furthermore, due to the cooperative nature of antiviral immunity, we found that Thoeris must be inhibited in only 10% of the bacteria to cause phage-induced lysis of the entire population.

Indexed as

abortive infectionbacterial antiviral immunitychemical biology probesmicrobial ecologyNAD+ signalingphage–host dynamicsphage therapy

Identifiers

PMID42094371
PMCPMC13142419

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.