CARD domains mediate anti-phage defence in bacterial gasdermin systems

Tanita Wein, Adi Millman, Katharina Lange, Erez Yirmiya, Romi Hadary, Jeremy Garb, Sarah Melamed, Gil Amitai, Orly Dym, Felix Steinruecke, Aidan B. Hill, Philip J. Kranzusch () and Rotem Sorek ()
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Tanita Wein: Weizmann Institute of Science
Adi Millman: Weizmann Institute of Science
Katharina Lange: Weizmann Institute of Science
Erez Yirmiya: Weizmann Institute of Science
Romi Hadary: Weizmann Institute of Science
Jeremy Garb: Weizmann Institute of Science
Sarah Melamed: Weizmann Institute of Science
Gil Amitai: Weizmann Institute of Science
Orly Dym: Weizmann Institute of Science
Felix Steinruecke: Harvard Medical School
Aidan B. Hill: Harvard Medical School
Philip J. Kranzusch: Harvard Medical School
Rotem Sorek: Weizmann Institute of Science

Nature, 2025, vol. 639, issue 8055, 727-734

Abstract: Abstract Caspase recruitment domains (CARDs) and pyrin domains are important facilitators of inflammasome activity and pyroptosis1. Following pathogen recognition by nucleotide binding-domain, leucine-rich, repeat-containing (NLR) proteins, CARDs recruit and activate caspases, which, in turn, activate gasdermin pore-forming proteins to induce pyroptotic cell death2. Here we show that CARD domains are present in defence systems that protect bacteria against phage. The bacterial CARD domain is essential for protease-mediated activation of certain bacterial gasdermins, which promote cell death once phage infection is recognized. We further show that multiple anti-phage defence systems use CARD domains to activate a variety of cell death effectors, and that CARD domains mediate protein–protein interactions in these systems. We find that these systems are triggered by a conserved immune-evasion protein used by phages to overcome the bacterial defence system RexAB3, demonstrating that phage proteins inhibiting one defence system can activate another. Our results suggest that CARD domains represent an ancient component of innate immune systems conserved from bacteria to humans, and that CARD-dependent activation of gasdermins is shared in organisms across the tree of life.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08498-3

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