Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector

Abstract Bacterial CBASS immune defense systems commonly kill virally infected cells by degrading genomic DNA in a form of cell suicide or abortive infection. We present a high-resolution structure of the CBASS effector Cap5, activated by a cyclic nucleotide, in the act of digesting DNA via tetramer...

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Main Authors: Olga Rechkoblit, Daniela Sciaky, Mi Ni, Yangmei Li, Jithesh Kottur, Gang Fang, Aneel K. Aggarwal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60484-z
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author Olga Rechkoblit
Daniela Sciaky
Mi Ni
Yangmei Li
Jithesh Kottur
Gang Fang
Aneel K. Aggarwal
author_facet Olga Rechkoblit
Daniela Sciaky
Mi Ni
Yangmei Li
Jithesh Kottur
Gang Fang
Aneel K. Aggarwal
author_sort Olga Rechkoblit
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Bacterial CBASS immune defense systems commonly kill virally infected cells by degrading genomic DNA in a form of cell suicide or abortive infection. We present a high-resolution structure of the CBASS effector Cap5, activated by a cyclic nucleotide, in the act of digesting DNA via tetrameric HNH endonuclease domains. Two HNH domains are in a catalytically active state for cleavage of the DNA strands, whereas the other two HNH domains are in a topologically distinct catalytically inactive state for simply DNA binding. The four HNH domains track one face of the DNA and mark an enzyme that acts as a stand-alone non-specific nuclease. We also show that chromosomally encoded CBASS Cap5 can be extrinsically activated by a cyclic nucleotide, as a step towards potential antibiotics.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
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series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-7e6fba9d79244ca79fb3e00e60f481682025-08-20T03:25:19ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-06-011611910.1038/s41467-025-60484-zMechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effectorOlga Rechkoblit0Daniela Sciaky1Mi Ni2Yangmei Li3Jithesh Kottur4Gang Fang5Aneel K. Aggarwal6Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDepartment of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiAbstract Bacterial CBASS immune defense systems commonly kill virally infected cells by degrading genomic DNA in a form of cell suicide or abortive infection. We present a high-resolution structure of the CBASS effector Cap5, activated by a cyclic nucleotide, in the act of digesting DNA via tetrameric HNH endonuclease domains. Two HNH domains are in a catalytically active state for cleavage of the DNA strands, whereas the other two HNH domains are in a topologically distinct catalytically inactive state for simply DNA binding. The four HNH domains track one face of the DNA and mark an enzyme that acts as a stand-alone non-specific nuclease. We also show that chromosomally encoded CBASS Cap5 can be extrinsically activated by a cyclic nucleotide, as a step towards potential antibiotics.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60484-z
spellingShingle Olga Rechkoblit
Daniela Sciaky
Mi Ni
Yangmei Li
Jithesh Kottur
Gang Fang
Aneel K. Aggarwal
Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
Nature Communications
title Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
title_full Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
title_fullStr Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
title_full_unstemmed Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
title_short Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector
title_sort mechanism of dna degradation by cbass cap5 endonuclease immune effector
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60484-z
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