STING structures reveal target sites

A trio of papers co-led by Zhijian “James” Chen revealed the molecular structure of STING in complex with two factors in its signaling pathway and a new function -- autophagy induction. The findings, reported in Nature on Wednesday, could enable the discovery of new STING agonists and antagonists.

Last year, Chen won the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences for identifying cGAS as the linchpin in sensing cytosolic DNA, a warning sign of viral infection or DNA damage. Upon binding cytosolic DNA, cGAS synthesizes cGAMP, which binds to and activates STING, inducing secretion of type I interferons (see "Sensor Sensibility")...