Polypeptide-assisted oligomerization of analogs in dilute aqueous solution

Abstract

Poly (Leu-Lys) was shown to assist the oligomerization of activated nucleotide diphosphates. Short oligomers of pdGp are formed in dilute solution. Activated oligomers can complex to the polypeptide and polymerize to form longer oligomers. Oligomers up to the 18-mer can be obtained under these conditions from 1 x 10 .3 M ImpdGpIm in the absence of a preformed polynucleotide template. The total yield of polymerization remains limited although 50% more pyrophosphate bonds are formed in the presence of polypeptide. However, the elongation effect is more significant since the yield of oligomers longer than the decamer is increased by a factor of 60. The possible prebiotic implications of these experiments are discussed.

From Interstellar Amino Acids to Prebiotic Catalytic Peptides: A Review

“…This finding does suggest the possibility that a polypeptide might catalyze the formation of RNA in an energetically favored reaction where activated mononucleotides were used [83].…”

Glycine oligomerization up to triglycine by shock experiments simulating comet impacts

“…Not only are peptides the building blocks of life, but they also most likely played important roles as catalysts in the formation of biomolecules on the primitive Earth. Polypeptides are known to catalyze the oligomerization of nucleotides, which can lead to the development of genetic material (Barbier et al, 1993); additionally, polypeptides help certain RNA-related molecules to function efficiently (Shimizu, 1995;Kochavi et al, 1997;van der Gulik et al, 2009). Moreover, some chiral dipeptides catalyze the stereoselective synthesis of biomolecules (Weber and Pizzarello, 2006;Pizzarello and Weber, 2010) and may be responsible for the homochirality of biomolecules that is a distinctive feature of terrestrial life.…”

A Specific Scenario for the Origin of Life and the Genetic Code Based on Peptide/Oligonucleotide Interdependence

“…By virtue of their binding to the backbones of NA, base-enriched peptides could facilitate NA copying by aligning template and copy strands. Some experimental evidence suggests that simple base-enriched peptides can facilitate nontemplate-based elongation of NAs from activated monomers (Woese 1968;Barbier et al 1993) raising the possibility of reverse translation. Furthermore, as described below, arginine residues could provide bond energy for the formation of NA phosphodiester bonds.…”