$re = '/([a-zA-Z])\d+(?:, \d+)*/';
$str = '\'interspersed by 1,6-hexanediol, corresponds to the immobile component observed with FRAP. Consistent with this idea, the immobile fraction of HP 1a.... own to arise through phase separation23. N&B analysis of GFP–fibrillarin highlighted areas of consistently high variance (2.38 ± 0.46 -mers) at the nucleolar boundary, compared to inside (1.28 ± 0.36) or outside (1.17 ± 0.25) the domain24, 25, 26. Similarly, GFP–HP 1a displayed increased variance34, 37';
$subst = "\1";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php