Sun Nyunt Wai

1) Erttmann SF, Swacha P, Jiang H, Aung KM, Uhlin BE, Wai SN, Gekara NO (2022) Commensal bacteria prime the innate immune system via cGAS-STING to protect against viral infection. Immunity 55(5):847-861.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.04.006. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35545033/
Landmark discovery linking microbiota to innate antiviral immunity. High impact (IF >40), directly relevant to SciLifeLab fields of microbiome–host interactions and infection biology.

2) Nadeem A, Nagampalli R, Toh E, Alam A, Myint SL, Heidler TV, Dongre M, Zlatkov N, Pace H, Bano F, Sjöstedt A, Bally M, Uhlin BE, Wai SN, Persson K (2021) A tripartite cytolytic toxin formed by Vibrio cholerae proteins with flagellum-facilitated secretion. PNAS 118(47):e2111418118.doi: 10.1073/pnas.2111418118. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34799450/
A tripartite cytolytic toxin formed by Vibrio cholerae proteins with flagellum-facilitated secretion.
Revealed a novel bacterial secretion and toxin mechanism, relevant for structural biology and infection research. High visibility and broad citation potential.

3) Toh E, Baryalai P, Nadeem A, Aung KM, Chen S, Persson K, Persson JL, Uhlin BE, Wai SN (2022) Bacterial protein MakA causes suppression of tumour cell proliferation via inhibition of PIP5K1α/Akt signalling. Cell Death Dis. 13(12):1024. doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-05480-7.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36473840/
Bacterial protein MakA suppresses tumour cell proliferation via inhibition of PIP5K1α/Akt signalling.
First demonstration of a bacterial protein with direct anticancer effects, connecting infection biology with translational cancer research—strongly aligned with SciLifeLab cancer theme.