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Structural basis of Gabija anti-phage defence and viral immune evasion
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Bacteria encode hundreds of diverse defence systems that protect them from viral infection and inhibit phage propagation 1–5 . Gabija is one of the most prevalent anti-phage defence systems, occurring in more than 15% of all sequenced bacterial and archaeal genomes 1,6,7 , but the molecular basis of how Gabija defends cells from viral infection remains poorly understood. Here we use X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to define how Gabija proteins assemble into a supramolecular complex of around 500 kDa that degrades phage DNA. Gabija protein A (GajA) is a DNA endonuclease that tetramerizes to form the core of the anti-phage defence complex. Two sets of Gabija protein B (GajB) dimers dock at opposite sides of the complex and create a 4:4 GajA–GajB assembly (hereafter, GajAB) that is essential for phage resistance in vivo. We show that a phage-encoded protein, Gabija anti-defence 1 (Gad1), directly binds to the Gabija GajAB complex and inactivates defence. A cryo-EM structure of the virally inhibited state shows that Gad1 forms an octameric web that encases the GajAB complex and inhibits DNA recognition and cleavage. Our results reveal the structural basis of assembly of the Gabija anti-phage defence complex and define a unique mechanism of viral immune evasion.
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![Extended Data Fig. 1 GajA and GajB form a supramolecular complex that cleaves phage lambda DNA in vitro. a, Size-exclusion chromatography (16/600 S200) analysis of recombinant BcGajA and BcGajB proteins, and the co-expressed BcGajAB complex. Brackets indicate fractions collected for biochemical and structural analysis with A260/280 of the final purified proteins listed above. b, SDS–PAGE analysis of purified GajA, GajB, and GajAB. Asterisk indicates minor contamination with the E. coli protein ArnA. Data are representative of at least 3 independent experiments. c, Agarose gel analysis of the ability of GajA, GajB, and GajAB to cleave a 56-bp target and scrambled dsDNA demonstrates that GajA alone and the GajAB complex can cleave target DNA only. The sequence-specific GajA target dsDNA with cleavage site described in Cheng et al.22 and the scrambled 15-bp sequence are shown below. d, Catalytic dead GajA[E379A]–GajB complex binding to target dsDNA (left) and scrambled dsDNA (right). e, Structural comparison of GajB and EcRep (PDB ID 1UAA)19 demonstrates the GajB 2B domain is rotated in a partially active intermediate position in the GajAB complex structure. f, SDS–PAGE analysis of BcGajAB mutant protein complex formation after co-expression and Ni-NTA pull-down demonstrates that mutations to the GajA–GajB interface disrupt complex formation. The GajA and GajB homo-oligomerization interfaces are not required for GajA–GajB interaction, but it is not known if these mutants remain competent at forming the wild-type 4:4 complex. Data in c,d,f are representative of 3 independent experiments.](/paper-figures/66f4912abbd04ee983506a69e7e028f9/structural-basis-of-gabija-anti-phage-defence-and-viral-immune-evasion-figure-5.jpg)







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Metadata
- Authors
- Antine, S. P., Johnson, A. G., Mooney, S. E., Leavitt, A., Mayer, M. L., Yirmiya, E., Amitai, G., Sorek, R., & Kranzusch, P. J.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Kranzusch, Philip J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2023-11-22
- Volume
- 625
- Issue
- 7994
- Pages
- 360-365
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC10781630
- OpenAlex
- W4388913741
- Cited by
- 125
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 9
- FWCI
- 20.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy (DE‐ AC02‐06CH11357, AC02‐06CH11357, grid.436923.9, S10OD021527, P30 GM124165, S10RR029205, 06CH11357, 436923.9, DE-AC02-)
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund (P30 GM124165)
- Cancer Research Institute
- Oregon Health and Science University (grid.436923.9, 436923.9)
- Life Sciences Research Foundation
- G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation (P30 GM124165)
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (P30 GM124165)
- Mark Foundation For Cancer Research (P30 GM124165)
- Open Philanthropy Project
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (464312965, DE-AC02-06CH11357, SPP2330)
- Israel Science Foundation (MAPATS Grant 2720/22)
- Council for Higher Education
- National Institutes of Health (1dp2gm146250-01, 1s10od021527-01, DE-AC02–06CH11357, GM124165)
- Office of Science (AC02‐06CH11357, DE-AC02, 06CH11357, grid.436923.9, DE-AC02-06CH11357)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (DP2 GM146250, U24GM129547, P30GM124165)
- National Center for Research Resources (S10RR029205)
- Division of Chemistry
- Biological and Environmental Research (DEAC0206CH11357, S10OD021527, P30 GM124165, grid.436923.9)
- Argonne National Laboratory (DE- AC02-06-CH11357, DE-AC02, AC02–06CH11357, 06CH11357, P30 GM124165)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Virology › Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Keywords
- phage resistance, viral immune evasion, protein complex formation, protein tetramerization, phage-host interactions
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Bacterial Proteins, Bacteriophages, Deoxyribonucleases, DNA, DNA, Viral, Humans, Virus Diseases, Crystallography, X-Ray, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Protein Multimerization, Immune Evasion
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