Increased efficiency of charge-mediated fusion in polymer/lipid hybrid membranes.

Due to their augmented properties, biomimetic polymer/lipid hybrid compartments are a promising substitute for natural liposomes in multiple applications, but the protein-free fusion of those semisynthetic membranes is unexplored to date. Here, we study the charge-mediated fusion of hybrid vesicles composed of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-graft-poly(ethylene oxide) and different lipids and analyze the process by size distribution and the mixing of membrane species at µm and nano scales. Remarkably, the membrane mixing of oppositely charged hybrids surpasses by far the degree in liposomes, which we correlate with properties like membrane disorder, rigidity, and ability of amphiphiles for flip-flop. Furthermore, we employ the integration of two respiratory proteins as a functional content mixing assay for different membrane compositions. This reveals that fusion is also attainable with neutral and cationic hybrids and that the charge is not the sole determinant of the final adenosine triphosphate synthesis rate, substantiating the importance of reconstitution environment. Finally, we employ this fusion strategy for the delivery of membrane proteins to giant unilamellar vesicles as a way to automate the assembly of synthetic cells.

G-quadruplexes Mark Sites of Methylation Instability Associated with Ageing and Cancer.

Regulation of the epigenome is critical for healthy cell function but can become disrupted with age, leading to aberrant epigenetic profiles including altered DNA methylation. Recent studies have indicated that DNA methylation homeostasis can be compromised by the formation of DNA secondary structures known as G-quadruplexes (G4s), which form in guanine-rich regions of the genome. G4s can be recognised and bound by certain methylation-regulating enzymes, and in turn perturb the surrounding methylation architecture. However, the effect G4 formation has on DNA methylation at critical epigenetic sites remains elusive and poorly explored. In this work, we investigate the association between G4 sequences and prominent DNA methylation sites, termed 'ageing clocks', that act as bona fide dysregulated regions in aged and cancerous cells. Using a combination of in vitro (G4-seq) and in cellulo (BG4-ChIP) G4 distribution maps, we show that ageing clocks sites are significantly enriched with G4-forming sequences. The observed enrichment also varies across species and cell lines, being least significant in healthy cells and more pronounced in tumorigenic cells. Overall, our results suggest a biological significance of G4s in the realm of DNA methylation, which may be important for further deciphering the driving forces of diseases characterised by epigenetic abnormality, including ageing.