Role of Electron Spin, Chirality, and Charge Dynamics in Promoting the Persistence of Nascent Nucleic Acid–Peptide Complexes

Abstract

Primitive nucleic acids and peptides likely collaborated in early biochemistry. What forces drove their interactions and how did these forces shape the properties of primitive complexes? We investigated how two model primordial polypeptides associate with DNA. When peptides were coupled to a ferromagnetic substrate, DNA binding depended on the substrate’s magnetic moment orientation. Reversing the magnetic field nearly abolished binding despite complementary charges. Inverting the peptide chirality or just the cysteine residue reversed this effect. These results are attributed to the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect, where molecular chirality and electron spin alter a protein’s electric polarizability. The presence of CISS in simple protein–DNA complexes suggests that it played a significant role in ancient biomolecular interactions. A major consequence of CISS is enhancement of the kinetic stability of protein–nucleic acid complexes. These findings reveal how chirality and spin influence bioassociation, offering insights into primitive biochemical evolution and shaping contemporary protein functions.