P2 Receptor Antagonists Rescue Defective Heme Content in an In Vitro SLC25A38-Associated Congenital Sideroblastic Anemia Cell Model.

Mutations in the SLC25A38 gene are responsible for the second most common form of congenital sideroblastic anemia (CSA), a severe condition for which no effective treatment exists. We developed and characterized a K562 erythroleukemia cell line with markedly reduced expression of the SLC25A38 protein (A38-low cells). This model successfully recapitulated the main features of CSA, including reduced heme content and mitochondrial respiration, increase in mitochondrial iron, ROS levels and sensitivity to oxidative stress.

Convenient syntheses of isotopically labeled pyrimidine 2'-deoxynucleosides and their 5-hydroxy oxidation products.

Hydrolytic and oxidative damage to pyrimidine nucleobases in DNA represents a significant source of mutations in the human genome. To better understand how these lesions are incorporated and repaired in human cells, it is desirable to have ready access to isotopically enriched nucleosides for use in isotope tracing and mass spectrometry-based quantification experiments. Here we report on improved syntheses of deoxyuridine, deoxycytidine, 5-hydroxydeoxyuridine, and 5-hydroxydeoxycytidine nucleosides labeled with C and N.

RNA infrastructure profiling illuminates transcriptome structure in crowded spaces.

RNAs fold into compact structures and undergo protein interactions in cells. These occluded environments can block reagents that probe the underlying RNAs. Probes that can analyze structure in crowded settings can shed light on RNA biology.

Chemical diversity of reagents that modify RNA 2'-OH in water: a review.

Electrophilic water-soluble compounds have proven versatile in reacting selectively with 2'-OH groups in RNA, enabling structure mapping, probing, caging, labeling, crosslinking, and conjugation of RNAs and in living cells. While early work focused on one or two types of reagents with limited properties, recent studies have greatly diversified the structure, properties, and applications of these reagents. Here we review the scope of documented RNA hydroxyl-reactive species reported to date, with an eye to the effects of chemical structure on reactivity with RNA and other useful properties.

Reversible RNA Acylation Using Bio-Orthogonal Chemistry Enables Temporal Control of CRISPR-Cas9 Nuclease Activity.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a widely popular tool for genome engineering. There is strong interest in developing tools for temporal control of CRISPR-Cas9 activity to address some of the challenges and to broaden the scope of potential applications. In this work, we describe a bio-orthogonal chemistry-based approach to control nuclease activity with temporal precision.