Nucleic acids: function and potential for abiogenesis.

IF 7.2 2区 生物学 Q1 BIOPHYSICS
Falk Wachowius, James Attwater, Philipp Holliger
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引用次数: 45

Abstract

The emergence of functional cooperation between the three main classes of biomolecules - nucleic acids, peptides and lipids - defines life at the molecular level. However, how such mutually interdependent molecular systems emerged from prebiotic chemistry remains a mystery. A key hypothesis, formulated by Crick, Orgel and Woese over 40 year ago, posits that early life must have been simpler. Specifically, it proposed that an early primordial biology lacked proteins and DNA but instead relied on RNA as the key biopolymer responsible not just for genetic information storage and propagation, but also for catalysis, i.e. metabolism. Indeed, there is compelling evidence for such an 'RNA world', notably in the structure of the ribosome as a likely molecular fossil from that time. Nevertheless, one might justifiably ask whether RNA alone would be up to the task. From a purely chemical perspective, RNA is a molecule of rather uniform composition with all four bases comprising organic heterocycles of similar size and comparable polarity and pK a values. Thus, RNA molecules cover a much narrower range of steric, electronic and physicochemical properties than, e.g. the 20 amino acid side-chains of proteins. Herein we will examine the functional potential of RNA (and other nucleic acids) with respect to self-replication, catalysis and assembly into simple protocellular entities.

核酸:自然发生的功能和潜力。
三种主要生物分子(核酸、多肽和脂质)之间功能性合作的出现,在分子水平上定义了生命。然而,这种相互依赖的分子系统是如何从益生元化学中出现的,仍然是一个谜。克里克、奥格尔和沃斯在40多年前提出的一个关键假设是,早期生活一定更简单。具体来说,它提出了早期原始生物学缺乏蛋白质和DNA,而是依赖RNA作为关键的生物聚合物,不仅负责遗传信息的存储和传播,而且还负责催化,即代谢。事实上,有令人信服的证据表明存在这样一个“RNA世界”,特别是在核糖体的结构中,核糖体很可能是那个时代的分子化石。然而,有人可能会问,单靠RNA就能完成这项任务吗?从纯粹的化学角度来看,RNA是一种组成相当均匀的分子,所有四种碱基都由大小相似、极性和pK值相当的有机杂环组成。因此,RNA分子覆盖的空间、电子和物理化学性质范围比蛋白质的20个氨基酸侧链要窄得多。在这里,我们将研究RNA(和其他核酸)在自我复制、催化和组装成简单的原细胞实体方面的功能潜力。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics 生物-生物物理
CiteScore
12.90
自引率
1.60%
发文量
16
期刊介绍: Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics covers the field of experimental and computational biophysics. Experimental biophysics span across different physics-based measurements such as optical microscopy, super-resolution imaging, electron microscopy, X-ray and neutron diffraction, spectroscopy, calorimetry, thermodynamics and their integrated uses. Computational biophysics includes theory, simulations, bioinformatics and system analysis. These biophysical methodologies are used to discover the structure, function and physiology of biological systems in varying complexities from cells, organelles, membranes, protein-nucleic acid complexes, molecular machines to molecules. The majority of reviews published are invited from authors who have made significant contributions to the field, who give critical, readable and sometimes controversial accounts of recent progress and problems in their specialty. The journal has long-standing, worldwide reputation, demonstrated by its high ranking in the ISI Science Citation Index, as a forum for general and specialized communication between biophysicists working in different areas. Thematic issues are occasionally published.
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