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Loop extrusion by cohesin plays a role in enhancer-activated gene expression early in differentiation
Abstract Enhancers and their target promoters often come into close physical proximity when activated. This may be explained by a variety of mechanisms, including cohesin-mediated chromatin loop extrusion. However, acute depletion of cohesin does not cause widespread changes in gene expression. We have tested the role of cohesin-mediated loop extrusion in gene expression at the mouse alpha-globin locus during erythropoiesis. Acute depletion of cohesin disrupts alpha-globin expression at early but not late stages of differentiation. Furthermore, when single or multiple CTCF sites, known to block cohesin, are placed between the alpha-globin enhancers and promoters, alpha-gene expression is disrupted. Importantly, the CTCF site’s orientation is critical, suggesting that within this activated domain, in definitive erythroid cells, cohesin predominantly but not exclusively, translocates from the enhancers to the promoters. We find that loop extrusion does play an important role in establishing enhancer-promoter proximity and consequent expression of inducible genes during differentiation.
Self-limiting population suppression gene drive design in the West Nile vector mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus
Skin-mimicking biogel-based iontronic sensor with hierarchical bionic coupling for dexterous tactile e-skin
PIWIL3-piRNA pathway controls rabbit oogenesis and embryogenesis via broad regulation of the transcriptome and proteome
Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system
Experimental demonstration of corrugated nanolaminate films as reflective light sails
Abstract Achieving laser-driven relativistic light sails would represent a tremendous breakthrough for humankind. Numerous sail designs have been proposed, but none satisfy all the stringent optical, mechanical, and mass constraints. Here we demonstrate a class of nanolaminate sails with strong and flexible hexagonally-corrugated microstructures. Our prototypes, fabricated from alumina and molybdenum disulfide using scalable semiconductor processing techniques, feature areal densities of < 1 g ⋅ m −2 , achieve experimentally-measured broadband reflectivities of > 50%, and feature broadband absorptivities of < 4% with a measurement uncertainty that overlaps with zero - indicative of our sail class’s potential for fast acceleration and ultra-low photon absorption. Moreover, we propose a sail’s maximum achievable relative velocity as a performance benchmark, and analyze optical, mechanical, and mass constraints for our design and others in the literature to highlight the strong potential of our class of sails. Our approach represents a promising step toward plausible relativistic interstellar propulsion.
Ion-triggered reconfigurable hydrogels with salt-enhanced mechanical and swelling properties via network topological adaptation
Asymmetric life-history trade-offs shape sex-biased longevity patterns
A general method for synthesizing heteropore covalent organic framework membranes to rapidly enrich uranyl ions
Monolithically integrated photon-mapping infrared imager
Optimising DNA origami assembly by reducing off-target interactions
Abstract DNA origami enables the programmable self-assembly of nucleic acids into precisely defined nanostructures, yet the influence of primary base sequence on folding reliability remains incompletely understood. In particular, off-target interactions between scaffold and staple strands may introduce kinetic traps and reduce assembly yield, even when the intended Watson-Crick complementarity is preserved. Here we show that scaffold sequence strongly affects DNA origami assembly through the prevalence of off-target binding reactions implicit in the chosen base sequence. We developed a multi-objective computational framework that scores candidate scaffold sequences according to four classes of off-target interactions and selects variants predicted to minimise these effects for a given origami design. Using this approach, we identified both favourable and unfavourable scaffold regions from biological and synthetic sequences and tested them experimentally across 2D and 3D DNA origami structures. Atomic force microscopy showed that scaffolds predicted to have fewer off-target interactions consistently folded with higher yield, whereas off-target-prone scaffolds largely failed despite having fully complementary staple sets. Single-molecule optical tweezers further revealed that scaffold variants with fewer predicted off-target interactions assemble into more mechanically uniform origami structures. These results establish off-target sequence effects as a major determinant of origami folding and we provide a software tool to select scaffold sequences that minimise off-target reactions for any DNA origami design.
Multi-functional photonic crystals of modular nanosheets
Abstract Photonic crystals with periodically ordered nanoscale building blocks can exhibit structural colors, offering a promising optical platform. Among various building blocks, colloidal nanosheets have attracted increasing attention owing to their intrinsic two-dimensionality and stimuli-responsiveness. However, integrating multiple functionalities into nanosheet-based photonic crystals remains challenging due to the structural and colloidal requirements of the nanosheets. Here, we established a universal modular strategy for synthesizing functional hybrid nanosheets and subsequently constructed multi-functional photonic crystals via their self-assembly. By electrostatically integrating negatively charged titanate nanosheets with positively charged nanoparticles, including gold nanoparticles, gold nanorods, and fluorescent silica nanoparticles, we successfully synthesized functional hybrid nanosheets. The enhancement of electrostatic repulsion between these nanosheets enabled the formation of multi-functional photonic crystals with modularly integrated structural color, plasmonic absorption, and fluorescence. Finally, we demonstrated three-dimensional visualization of the photonic nanostructures using confocal microscopy and reversible modulation of the optical properties using magnetic fields and light. This work provides a versatile platform for designing next-generation smart photonic materials with integrated functionalities.
Distributional effects of marine conservation on coastal livelihoods in Eastern Indonesia
Author Correction: Volatile resorption expedites eruption onset in large silicic systems
Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration
A Cholesterol Analogue for Cell‐Surface Enzyme Display
ABSTRACT The cell membrane is a prime target for the introduction of novel cellular functionalities, as it is a complex system with many routes for surface modification. Several chemical coating and genetic engineering methods have thus been developed for this purpose. Here, a distinct way to enable enzyme‐binding onto the surface of bacterial cells is explored using biomimetic lipids that integrate within the cell membrane. E. coli cells were equipped with a cholesterol‐based artificial lipid containing a nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) group which, when loaded with Ni 2+ ions, selectively binds His‐tagged enzymes through affinity interactions. This interaction is stable and selective for tagged proteins including green fluorescent protein, enabling their direct one‐step purification and immobilisation from cell lysates. Furthermore, the process is biocompatible and preserves both intracellular and cell‐surface enzymatic activity. This strategy further enables binding of benzaldehyde lyase or amine transaminase enzymes to the surface of bacterial cells for recyclable single‐step enzymatic reactions. Importantly, it allowed the creation of a single‐cell system for the two‐step cascade reaction from benzyl alcohol to (R) ‐benzoin using both intracellular and surface‐immobilised enzymes. This provides a solid proof of concept for the streamlined development of cascade reaction systems in a single cell through non‐genetic cell surface enzyme immobilisation.
Design, click-based synthesis, molecular docking, molecular dynamics and anticancer activity of new isoindoline-1,3-dione- triazole-glycopyranosyl hybrids
Determinants of mobile fitness app continuance intention using PLS SEM NCA and fsQCA
Bearing characteristics and parameter optimization of high-strength reticulated shell composite support for deep soft rock roadways
Abstract With the increase of coal mining depth, deep soft rock roadways face the “five-high” complex environment (high erosion, high ground temperature, high osmotic pressure, high ground pressure, strong disturbance), leading to prominent problems such as severe surrounding rock deformation, floor heave, and large sidewall deformation. Traditional support structures are difficult to adapt due to defects like concrete deterioration and insufficient floor strength. To solve this problem, a composite support system of “high-strength steel mesh shell + shotcrete + bolt” was designed. Taking the roadway of Dingji Coal Mine as the engineering background, numerical simulation (ABAQUS) and similar model tests were conducted to study its bearing characteristics and optimize key parameters. Through orthogonal tests of 16 working conditions, the influence degree of parameters on the support effect was determined as: burial depth of reticulated shell floor > concrete strength > longitudinal reinforcement diameter. The optimal parameter combination (burial depth 1.0 m, longitudinal reinforcement diameter 12 mm, concrete strength C20) achieved a minimum floor heave of 14.32 mm. The stress analysis shows that the roof and floor surrounding rock are mainly under compressive stress (stress concentration at the sidewall foot), while the reticulated shell steel bars mainly bear tensile stress with a peak value of 48 MPa under long-term stable service conditions; under ultimate load, the local tensile stress of the outer secondary arc reinforcement reaches the yield strength (235 MPa), forming a ‘compression-dominant, tension–compression synergy’ bearing system, forming a “compression-dominant, tension–compression synergy” bearing system. Similar model tests verified that the composite structure delays crack propagation through synergistic action, maintaining good integrity even when the arch foot stress increases from 4.4 MPa to 9.02 MPa under 0.7 MPa load. This study confirms that the optimized high-strength composite support structure effectively improves the stability of deep soft rock roadways, providing theoretical and technical support for complex geological conditions.