Asparagine sensing by TBK1 controls its phase separation to drive antiviral innate immune responses

Competition between the host and invading viruses for cellular nutrients determines the outcomes of infectious diseases. Nutrients are increasingly being recognized as regulators that interact with immunological signals, but how immune cells sense specific nutrients to regulate antiviral innate immune responses remains elusive. Here, we establish asparagine (Asn) as an intercellular nutritional checkpoint that is sensed by TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) to drive innate immune responses in human and murine cells. Mechanistically, Asn directly binds to TBK1, which robustly induces TBK1 phase separation and forms liquid-like droplets, promoting TBK1 transautophosphorylation and activation. Moreover, viral infection reduces asparagine synthetase (ASNS) expression to establish an Asn-restricted microenvironment, thereby evading TBK1-triggered host immune defenses. Overall, our results suggest that TBK1 is a natural Asn sensor that links host nutritional homeostasis to antiviral immune responses and reveal that targeting Asn availability is a promising therapeutic strategy for diseases involving dysregulated TBK1 activation.