Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system

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Zang, Zhiyu
Duncan, Olivia K
Sabonis, Dziugas
Fedorova, Iana
Shi, Yun
Miraj, Gause
Le, Shuai
Deng, Jun
Zhu, Yuhao
Cai, Yanyao
Zhang, Chengqian
Arya, Garima
Dixon, Shelley AH
Angus, Steven P
Duerkop, Breck A
et al.
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2026
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Abstract

The rise of antibiotic resistance motivates a revived interest in phage therapy. However, bacteria possess dozens of anti-phage immune systems that confer resistance to therapeutic phages. Chemical inhibitors of these anti-phage immune systems could be employed as adjuvants to overcome resistance in phage-based therapies. Here, we report a class of chemical inhibitors that selectively inhibit type II Thoeris anti-phage immune systems from diverse bacteria—including antibiotic-resistant pathogens, thereby sensitizing phage-resistant bacteria to phages. These inhibitors block the biosynthesis of a histidine-ADPR intracellular “alarm” signal by ThsB, thereby preventing ThsA from arresting phage replication. Chemical inhibition of the Thoeris defense improves the efficacy of a model phage therapy against a phage-resistant clinical isolate of P. aeruginosa in a mouse infection, suggesting a therapeutic potential. These findings demonstrate that the selective inhibition of anti-phage defense systems can improve the efficacy of therapeutic phages, suggesting a strategy to circumvent phage-therapy resistance.

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Cell Host & Microbe

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© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.

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Biochemistry and cell biology

Microbiology

Medical microbiology

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Zang, Z; Duncan, OK; Sabonis, D; Fedorova, I; Shi, Y; Miraj, G; Le, S; Deng, J; Zhu, Y; Cai, Y; Zhang, C; Arya, G; Dixon, SAH; Angus, SP; Duerkop, BA; Liang, H; Pepin, RH; Ve, T; Bondy-Denomy, J; Tamulaitiene, G; Gerdt, JP, Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system, Cell Host & Microbe, 2026

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