Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42094504›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Eukaryotic domestication of a bacterial immune protein following horizontal transfer.

Edward M Culbertson, Emily Cruz-Lorenzo, Jocelyn Leon Padilla, Megan Halfmann, James R Drurey, Jeffrey J Lange, Yao Li, Neha Garlapati, Harshitha Gompa, Benjamin R Morehouse and 2 more

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

12 authors.

Edward M CulbertsonDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9016-3871
Emily Cruz-LorenzoDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9283-885X
Jocelyn Leon PadillaDepartment of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-7458-0332
Megan HalfmannStowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64114, USA.
James R DrureyDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-8303-4879
Jeffrey J LangeStowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64114, USA.
Yao LiDepartment of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Neha GarlapatiDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
Harshitha GompaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
Benjamin R MorehouseDepartment of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3352-5463
Randal HalfmannStowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64114, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6592-1471
Tera C LevinDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7883-8522

Funding

TIR domains and the ancestry of innate immunityR35GM150681 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Tera Catherine Levin · 2023 to 2026
$1.6M
Defining the mechanisms that drive novel cyclic nucleotide signaling in immune defenseR35GM157311 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · PI Benjamin Robert Morehouse · 2025 to 2026
$760k
High-Throughput Computing for Genomics and Bioinformatics ResearchS10OD028483 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI LEE, ADRIAN V · 2021 to 2021
$574k
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM150681NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM157311NIH HHS S10 OD028483
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many components of eukaryotic innate immunity originated from bacterial immune systems. However, it is unclear how eukaryotes acquire these genes and how the components are domesticated into eukaryotic physiology. Here, we discovered a recent instance of bacteria-eukaryote horizontal transfer and used it to characterize the genetic and biochemical changes that accompanied eukaryotic acquisition. We focus on Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domains, which are widespread yet potentially costly immune modules associated with inflammation and/or cell death. By generating an atlas of TIR diversity across the tree of life, we phylogenetically categorized the domains and uncovered highly diverged, eukaryotic TIR families. This analysis revealed a horizontal transfer event that created the TirBCD protein family of

Identifiers

PMID42094504
PMCPMC13142454

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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.