Dual α-globin-truncated erythropoietin receptor knockin restores hemoglobin production in α-thalassemia-derived erythroid cells.

The most severe form of α-thalassemia results from loss of all four copies of α-globin. Postnatally, patients face challenges similar to β-thalassemia, including severe anemia and erythrotoxicity due to the imbalance of β-globin and α-globin chains. Despite progress in genome editing treatments for β-thalassemia, there is no analogous curative option for α-thalassemia.

Microbial hauberks: composition and function of surface layer proteins in gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs.

Unlabelled: Many species of proteobacterial methane-consuming bacteria (methanotrophs) form a hauberk-like envelope represented by a surface (S-) layer protein (SLP) matrix. While several proteins were predicted to be associated with the cell surface, the composition and function of the hauberk matrix remained elusive. Here, we report the identification of the genes encoding the hauberk-forming proteins in two gamma-proteobacterial (Type I) methanotrophs, 5GB1 (EQU24_15540) and 20Z (MEALZ_0971 and MEALZ_0972).

Reconstruction of soft x-ray emission in MAST Upgrade.

Understanding the confinement of fast ions is crucial for plasma heating and non-inductive current drive, i.e., for the operation of a fusion reactor.

Photodegradable polyacrylamide tanglemers enable spatiotemporal control over chain lengthening in high-strength and low-hysteresis hydrogels.

Covalent hydrogel networks suffer from a stiffness-toughness conflict, where increased crosslinking density enhances the modulus of the material but also leads to embrittlement and diminished extensibility. Recently, strategies have been developed to form highly entangled hydrogels, colloquially referred to as tanglemers, by optimizing polymerization conditions to maximize the density and length of polymer chains and minimize the crosslinker concentration. It is challenging to assess entanglements in crosslinked networks beyond approximating their theoretical contribution to mechanical properties; thus, in this work, we synthesize and characterize polyacrylamide tanglemers using a photolabile crosslinker, which allows for direct assessment of covalent trapping of entanglements under tension.

Histone H3 N-terminal recognition by the PHD finger of PHRF1 is required for proper DNA damage response.

Plant homeodomain (PHD) fingers are critical effectors of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), acting as regulators of gene expression and genome integrity, and frequently presenting in human disease. While most PHD fingers recognize unmodified and methylated states of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4), the specific functions of many of the over 100 PHD finger-containing proteins in humans remain poorly understood, despite their significant implications in disease processes. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive analysis of one such poorly characterized PHD finger-containing protein, PHRF1.