Ashley Sullivan
@aesully98.bsky.social
🦬 // PhD candidate in the Aaron Whiteley Lab at CU Boulder. she/her
A little late to the Panoptes party, but I’m delighted to share that our paper is published! 👁️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature
The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.
www.nature.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A little late to the Panoptes party, but I’m delighted to share that our paper is published! 👁️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
My pleasure @erinedoherty.bsky.social and @benmorehouse.bsky.social - for me this was the stand-out discovery of the last year in the field
And thanks to @mfwhite2.bsky.social for this great perspective on both works! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Bacteria use a decoy defence molecule to set a trap for viruses
Some bacterial-infecting viruses use ‘sponges’ to mop up defence molecules, but bacteria can fight back by responding when a sponge captures decoy molecules.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 AM
My pleasure @erinedoherty.bsky.social and @benmorehouse.bsky.social - for me this was the stand-out discovery of the last year in the field
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Very excited to see our work appear alongside findings from @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social & @benmorehouse.bsky.social !
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature
The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Very excited to see our work appear alongside findings from @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social & @benmorehouse.bsky.social !
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Now online at @nature.com we show how the Panoptes defense system protects against viruses that attempt immune evasion - and expands our understanding of the role of oligonucleotides in immunity.
Check out this work co-led with @benadler.bsky.social here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Check out this work co-led with @benadler.bsky.social here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature
Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Now online at @nature.com we show how the Panoptes defense system protects against viruses that attempt immune evasion - and expands our understanding of the role of oligonucleotides in immunity.
Check out this work co-led with @benadler.bsky.social here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Check out this work co-led with @benadler.bsky.social here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Thank you to everyone who helped make this story happen!
Obligatory meme to summarize:
“How I imagine phage facing CBASS and mCpol”
Obligatory meme to summarize:
“How I imagine phage facing CBASS and mCpol”
October 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Thank you to everyone who helped make this story happen!
Obligatory meme to summarize:
“How I imagine phage facing CBASS and mCpol”
Obligatory meme to summarize:
“How I imagine phage facing CBASS and mCpol”
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Our sister-story from our friends @aesully98.bsky.social , @benmorehouse.bsky.social and @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social is out today as well! Congratulations!!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature
The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.
www.nature.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Our sister-story from our friends @aesully98.bsky.social , @benmorehouse.bsky.social and @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social is out today as well! Congratulations!!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
A new preprint led by Sonomi Yamaguchi in our lab describes a bacterial anti-phage defense system named Clover that uses nucleotide signals to both activate and inhibit host immunity.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM
A new preprint led by Sonomi Yamaguchi in our lab describes a bacterial anti-phage defense system named Clover that uses nucleotide signals to both activate and inhibit host immunity.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Preprint: “Structural modeling reveals viral proteins that manipulate host immune signaling”
Using AI-guided structural modeling, we find new families of viral proteins that sequester or cleave host immune signaling molecules
Congrats Nitzan Tal!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Using AI-guided structural modeling, we find new families of viral proteins that sequester or cleave host immune signaling molecules
Congrats Nitzan Tal!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 14, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Preprint: “Structural modeling reveals viral proteins that manipulate host immune signaling”
Using AI-guided structural modeling, we find new families of viral proteins that sequester or cleave host immune signaling molecules
Congrats Nitzan Tal!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Using AI-guided structural modeling, we find new families of viral proteins that sequester or cleave host immune signaling molecules
Congrats Nitzan Tal!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
I am delighted to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab is now on bioRxiv! We used a large-scale genetic screen to begin defining the vast landscape of phage proteins that trigger immune signaling in bacteria.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Identifying phage proteins that activate the bacterial innate immune system
Bacteria have evolved sophisticated antiphage systems that halt phage replication upon detecting specific phage triggers. Identifying phage triggers is crucial to our understanding of immune signaling...
www.biorxiv.org
July 11, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I am delighted to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab is now on bioRxiv! We used a large-scale genetic screen to begin defining the vast landscape of phage proteins that trigger immune signaling in bacteria.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Excited to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab describing chaperone-mediated phage sensing by a bacterial NLR-related protein is out in @plosbiology.org!
Bacteria encode homologs of the human NACHT proteins that form inflammasomes and use them to defend against phage #infection. @amyconte.bsky.social @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social &co show that bNACHT25 detects diverse phages indirectly through interaction with the host chaperone DnaJ. 🧪
plos.io/4koXP60
plos.io/4koXP60
DnaJ mediates phage sensing by the bacterial NLR-related protein bNACHT25
Bacteria encode homologs of the human NACHT proteins that form inflammasomes, and use them to defend against phage infection. This study shows that the NLR-related protein bNACHT25 detects diverse pha...
plos.io
June 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Excited to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab describing chaperone-mediated phage sensing by a bacterial NLR-related protein is out in @plosbiology.org!
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
CBASS, CRISPR, and mCpol- oh my! What a satisfying collaboration with @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social 's lab- we uncovered a new cyclic dinucleotide signaling pathway, but it doesn't work how you'd expect! Check out the thread from @aesully98.bsky.social for an overview of the most important findings!
Excited to share that my work from the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab is now on bioRxiv! With @benmorehouse.bsky.social, we discovered that the Panoptes defense system—named after the all-seeing watchman of Hera—uses decoy nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins.
A minimal CRISPR polymerase produces decoy cyclic nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins
Bacteria use antiphage systems to combat phages, their ubiquitous competitors, and evolve new defenses through repeated reshuffling of basic functional units into novel reformulations. A common theme ...
www.biorxiv.org
March 31, 2025 at 10:05 PM
CBASS, CRISPR, and mCpol- oh my! What a satisfying collaboration with @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social 's lab- we uncovered a new cyclic dinucleotide signaling pathway, but it doesn't work how you'd expect! Check out the thread from @aesully98.bsky.social for an overview of the most important findings!
Excited to share that my work from the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab is now on bioRxiv! With @benmorehouse.bsky.social, we discovered that the Panoptes defense system—named after the all-seeing watchman of Hera—uses decoy nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins.
A minimal CRISPR polymerase produces decoy cyclic nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins
Bacteria use antiphage systems to combat phages, their ubiquitous competitors, and evolve new defenses through repeated reshuffling of basic functional units into novel reformulations. A common theme ...
www.biorxiv.org
March 31, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Excited to share that my work from the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab is now on bioRxiv! With @benmorehouse.bsky.social, we discovered that the Panoptes defense system—named after the all-seeing watchman of Hera—uses decoy nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins.
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.
February 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
I’m so excited to share that some of my grad work in the @aaronwhiteley lab is now available on bioRxiv! We used an AlphaFold-multimer screen to uncover how a bacterial NLR-related proteins senses multiple phage-encoded proteins to confer phage protection. Link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A bacterial NLR-related protein recognizes multiple unrelated phage triggers to sense infection
Immune systems must rapidly sense viral infections to initiate antiviral signaling and protect the host. Bacteria encode >100 distinct viral (phage) defense systems and each has evolved to sense cruci...
www.biorxiv.org
December 18, 2024 at 8:08 PM
I’m so excited to share that some of my grad work in the @aaronwhiteley lab is now available on bioRxiv! We used an AlphaFold-multimer screen to uncover how a bacterial NLR-related proteins senses multiple phage-encoded proteins to confer phage protection. Link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ashley Sullivan
Our review comparing bacterial and eukaryotic immune systems is out now. Check out Hannah’s thread for the highlights!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
March 1, 2024 at 9:37 PM
Our review comparing bacterial and eukaryotic immune systems is out now. Check out Hannah’s thread for the highlights!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...