★ Why we care
Open field — 2024 discovery, few groups working on it, druggable helicase, direct eukaryotic parallels (Upf1, Pif1). The ideal system for whoever wants to plant an "early" flag on a mechanism with translational spillover.
✦ Bactaegion collective mission○ local·0/ 478 206candidate families touched·0therapeutic hypotheses posted·0annotations completed
Canonical sources
Bactaegion does not duplicate any scientific data. Everything comes from public databases.
★ Curated sources
🔍 Search public databases
Protein domains
📚 Reference bibliography
Picton D.M. et al., A widespread family of phage-defense systems uses a SF1-class helicase, Nat. Microbiol. 9 (2024).
★ Princeps publication
Picton DM, Harling-Lee JD, Duffner SJ et al. (2024). A widespread family of phage-defence systems uses a SF1-class helicase. Nature Microbiology.
1-28 · clear lead · series 2026/2
Mokosh
MkoA/MkoB defense complex
The most recently characterized system, still little known.
Couple récemment caractérisé (MkoA hélicase Superfamily 1 + MkoB module à activité variable). Distribution sporadique. Découverte 2024 → champ ouvert pour caractérisation mécanistique et exploration de pistes druggables sur le domaine hélicase.
- Proteins
- 124
- Host
- bactéries
- Discovery
- Picton D.M., 2024
- Mechanism
- hélicase + module variable
Also documented in the V1 library see the full entry →
✦ The story
Mokosh was a Slavic goddess of earth, fertility and weaving — associated with the transformation of materials. The Mokosh anti-phage system, characterized in 2024 by Picton et al. (Nat. Microbiol.), couples a Superfamily 1 helicase (MkoA) to a variable effector module (MkoB). Its distribution across the bacterial pangenome is sporadic, which makes it a relatively "new" system from the research community's point of view. The exact mechanism is not yet fully resolved, but the SF1 helicase component is the most promising entry point for characterization and drug discovery.
Discovered 2024
By Picton, Harling-Lee, Duffner et al. (Newcastle / Northumbria)
◇ The detail that lands
SF1 helicases are a family under-covered by pharmacology. In humans, Upf1 (NMD, nonsense-mediated decay) and Pif1 (mitochondrial DNA maintenance) are SF1 enzymes and are both targets of interest in cancer (chemo-resistance) and mitochondrial biology. Having a bacterial proxy (MkoA) to screen SF1 inhibitors would open a new pharmacological class.
Sources
- Picton D.M. et al., A widespread family of phage-defense systems uses a SF1-class helicase, Nat. Microbiol. 9 (2024).
Open leads on Mokosh · 1