New ChemBioHub paper in Nature Communications: high-resolution structures of NHE6 and NHE9

New in Nature Communications: high-resolution cryo-EM structures of the human endosomal sodium–proton exchangers NHE6 and NHE9.

We resolved human NHE9 and two splice variants of NHE6, mapped the sodium-binding site and uncovered a previously uncharacterised phosphoinositide-binding site in NHE6. The structures provide new insight into how these important regulators of endosomal pH transport ions and interact with their surrounding membrane lipids.

This is a special milestone for us - the first cryo-EM structures from the Huber Lab.

Huge congratulations to co-first authors Jesper Hansen and Ashley Pike, and many thanks to Gamma Chi and David Sauer for helping us enter this exciting new area.

The study brought together an outstanding team across Oxford, CeMM, Johns Hopkins, Geisinger and Bayer, and continues our decade-long collaboration with Bayer. It was enabled by the complementary expertise and resources of the EU-funded ReSOLUTE and EUbOPEN consortia.

📖 Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77254-0

Cryo-EM structure of human NHE6 showing the transporter, its crown domain and bound lipids. Image © Dr Ashley Pike.

Congratulations to Haozhe on passing his DPhil viva!

We are delighted to congratulate Haozhe on successfully passing his DPhil viva.

We are grateful to Professor Chris Schofield (University of Oxford) and Professor Lyn Jones (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School) for serving as Haozhe's examiners and for their insightful and constructive feedback.

Congratulations, Haozhe, on this important milestone, and we wish you every success in the next stage of your career!

Dark Blue Therapeutics acquired by Amgen

We are incredibly proud to see Dark Blue Therapeutics acquired by Amgen in a deal worth up to US$840 million - a major milestone for the company and for Oxford science and drug discovery.

Dark Blue grew from collaborative research across the University of Oxford and was developed through the LAB282 accelerator before spinning out in 2020. Its lead programme targets and degrades the cancer-driving proteins MLLT1/3, offering a potential new approach to treating aggressive leukaemias, including acute myeloid leukaemia.

The acquisition brings the programme into Amgen’s global research organisation, with the resources and expertise to advance it towards clinical development.

Huge congratulations to the entire Dark Blue Therapeutics team! It has been inspiring to see outstanding academic science transformed through teamwork, persistence and exceptional drug discovery into a programme with the potential to make a real difference for patients. We could not be prouder of what the team has achieved.

🔗 Read more:

- Oxford Science Enterprises: https://www.oxfordscienceenterprises.com/news/dark-blue-therapeutics-acquired-in-deal-worth-up-to-840m

- University of Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-03-20-oxford-university-spinout-dark-blue-therapeutics-acquired-advance-leukaemia

- Amgen: https://www.amgen.com/newsroom/press-releases/2026/01/amgen-acquires-dark-blue-therapeutics-bolstering-oncology-pipeline