Yan LI (@yli18smc.bsky.social)

Structure and activation mechanism of a Lamassu phage and plasmid defense system Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41594-025-01677-4Li et al. show that a Lamassu defense system protects bacteria from phage infection by activating a lethal tetrameric DNA-cutting enzyme. In the absence of phages, a protein clamp holds the enzyme as an inactive monomer, preventing self-damage. https://go.nature.com/3W1pMqf