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Fox SW, Hefti F, Hartikka J, Junard E, Przybylski AT, Vaughan G. Pharmacological activities in thermal proteins: relationships in molecular evolution. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY. QUANTUM BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM : PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON QUANTUM BIOLOGY AND QUANTUM PHARMACOLOGY. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON QUANTUM BIOLOGY AND QUANTUM PHARMACOLOGY 1987; 14:347-9. [PMID: 11542106 DOI: 10.1002/qua.560320832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The model of protobiological events that has been presented in these pages has increasing relevance to pharmacological research. The thermal proteins that function as key substances in the proteinoid theory have recently been found to prolong the survival of rat forebrain neurons in culture and to stimulate the growth of neurites. A search for such activity in thermal proteins added to cultures of modern neurons was suggested by the fact that some of the microspheres assembled from proteinoids rich in hydrophobic amino acids themselves generate fibrous outgrowths.
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Fox SW. Molecular selection and natural selection. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 1986; 61:375-86. [PMID: 3763822 DOI: 10.1086/415034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Fox SW. The evolutionary sequence: origin and emergences. THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER 1986; 48:140-169. [PMID: 11542035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The evolutionary sequence is being reexamined experimentally from a "Big Bang"origin to the protocell and from the emergence of protocell and variety of species to Darwin's mental power (mind) and society (The Descent of Man). A most fundamentally revisionary consequence of experiments is an emphasis on endogenous ordering. This principle, seen vividly in ordered copolymerization of amino acids, has had new impact on the theory of Darwinian evolution and has been found to apply to the entire sequence. Herein, I will discuss some problems of dealing with teaching controversial subjects.
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Fox SW. Molecular selection in a unified evolutionary sequence. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY. QUANTUM BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM : PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON QUANTUM BIOLOGY AND QUANTUM PHARMACOLOGY. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON QUANTUM BIOLOGY AND QUANTUM PHARMACOLOGY 1986; 13:223-35. [PMID: 11542037 DOI: 10.1002/qua.560300822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
With guidance from experiments and observations that indicate internally limited phenomena, an outline of unified evolutionary sequence is inferred. Such unification is not visible for a context of random matrix and random mutation. The sequence proceeds from Big Bang through prebiotic matter, protocells, through the evolving cell via molecular and natural selection, to mind, behavior, and society.
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Abstract
The occurrence of organisms of primitive appearance near submarine hydrothermal vents has indicated sea-floor conditions that are like those under which proteinoid microspheres are produced in the laboratory. Experimental examination of the question of whether some proteinoid microspheres might be stable in hot water has revealed proteinoids that are soluble in cold water but precipitate on heating. Unanswered questions are discussed.
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Fox SW. Self-sequencing of amino acids and origins of polyfunctional protocells. ORIGINS OF LIFE 1984; 14:485-8. [PMID: 6462684 DOI: 10.1007/bf00933695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The primal role of the origins of proteins in molecular evolution is discussed. On the basis of this premise, the significance of the experimentally established self-sequencing of amino acids under simulated geological conditions is explained as due to the fact that the products are highly nonrandom and accordingly contain many kinds of information. When such thermal proteins are aggregated into laboratory protocells, an action that occurs readily, the resultant protocells also contain many kinds of information. Residue-by-residue order, enzymic activities, and lipid quality accordingly occur within each preparation of proteinoid (thermal protein). In this paper are reviewed briefly the phenomenon of self-sequencing of amino acids, its relationship to evolutionary processes, other significance of such self-ordering, and the experimental evidence for original polyfunctional protocells.
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Przybylski AT, Stratten WP, Syren RM, Fox SW. Membrane, action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 1982; 69:561-3. [PMID: 7162535 DOI: 10.1007/bf00396351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Electrical membrane potentials, oscillations, and action potentials are observed in proteinoid microspheres impaled with (3 M KC1) microelectrodes. Although effects are of greater magnitude when the vesicles contain glycerol and natural or synthetic lecithin, the results in the purely synthetic thermal protein structures are substantial, attaining 20 mV amplitude in some cases. The results add the property of electrical potential to the other known properties of proteinoid microspheres, in their role as models for protocells.
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Fox SW, Barton SL, Howd M. Repairing broken dies from the Pindex System. QUINTESSENCE OF DENTAL TECHNOLOGY 1982; 6:141-3. [PMID: 7048431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Abstract
Several photoreactions for transducing light energy have been analyzed for their relevance as models for protocellular photophosphorylation. Inorganic ions and compounds could have played a role in protocellular photophosphorylation. Organic catalysts may have been the next significant agents used by protocells for photophosphorylation. Membranous photophosphorylation probably became the most recent type of photoenergy transduction to be acquired by protocells; it is still used by modern cells although components of the other types of phosphorylation are found in present day cells. Recorded yields of energy-rich phosphates from the model reactions discussed are small. Arguments are advanced that such yields could have been sufficient to have fueled protocellular metabolism which was probably very slow compared to modern cellular metabolism. Future prospects for research in this area are discussed.
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Nakashima T, Fox SW. Formation of peptides from amino acids by single or multiple additions of ATP to suspensions of nucleoproteinoid microparticles. Biosystems 1981; 14:151-61. [PMID: 6794660 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(81)90064-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
When lysine-rich proteinoid, which catalyzes the formation of peptides from amino acids and ATP, is complexed with acidic proteinoid to form microspheres of mixed constitution, the normal synthesis by basic proteinoid alone is multiplied several-fold. The product consists not only of small peptides but also of a high-molecular-weight fraction of substituted proteinoid. Suspensions of particles of lysine-rich proteinoid complexed with polyadenylic acid catalyze the synthesis of peptides from each of the amino acids tested with ATP. When equimolar solutions of mixtures of glycine and phenylalanine with ATP are tested in suspensions of complexes of lysine-rich proteinoid and each of various polyribonucleotides, both homopeptides and heteropeptides are produced. Glycylphenylalanine or phenylalanylglycine is the principal product; the preference is related to which polyribonucleotide is in the complex. The rate of conversion of amino acid to peptide is a function of whether ATP is added in a single batch or in repeated amounts adding to the same amount as in the single batch. Related experiments indicate a relatively rapid initial rate of decay of ATP in the system. These results are discussed relative to the mechanisms for continuous generation in modern organisms, as are the results in peptide formation.
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Ishima Y, Przybylski AT, Fox SW. Electrical membrane phenomena in spherules from proteinoid and lecithin. Biosystems 1981; 13:243-51. [PMID: 7248487 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(81)90004-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Spontaneous and induced electrical phenomena resembling membrane and action potentials in natural excitable cells have been observed in artificial cells. These artificial cells were made from thermal proteinoid and lecithin in a solution of potassium acid phosphate with glycerol.
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Nakashima T, Fox SW. Synthesis of peptides from amino acids and ATP with lysine-rich proteinoid. J Mol Evol 1980. [DOI: 10.1007/bf01733146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Abstract
Recent astrophysical studies suggest a high degree of order in the inanimate universe, stemming from cosmic beginnings. This state is consistent with the nonrandomness observed experimentally in the thermal polymers of amino acids that figure as an early inanimate stage in organic evolution. The various stages in inanimate matter, protocells, and evolved cells and the degree of order that they represent comport with the second law of thermodynamics on a cosmic scale.
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Fox SW. Response to repeated statements on temperatures required for polycondensation of amino acids. J Mol Evol 1980; 15:359. [PMID: 7411651 DOI: 10.1007/bf01733143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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Fox SW. Metabolic microspheres: origins and evolution. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 1980; 67:378-83. [PMID: 6997755 DOI: 10.1007/bf00405480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
A systematic review of catalytic activities in thermal proteinoids and microspheres aggregated therefrom yields some new inferences on the origins and evolution of metabolism. Experiments suggest that, instead of being inert, protocells were already biochemically and cytophysically competent. The emergence and refinement of metabolism ab initio is thus partly traced conceptually. When the principle of molecular self-instruction, as of amino acids in peptide synthesis, is taken into account as a concomitant of natural selection, an expanded theory of organismic evolution, including saltations, emerges.
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Nakashima T, Fox SW. Synthesis of peptides from amino acids and ATP with lysine-rich proteinoid. J Mol Evol 1980; 15:161-8. [PMID: 6249936 DOI: 10.1007/bf01732668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Lysine-rich proteinoids in aqueous solution catalyze the formation of peptides from free amino acids and ATP. This catalytic activity is not found in acidic proteinoids, even though the latter contain some basic amino acid. The pH optimum for the synthesis is about 11, but is appreciable below 8 and above 13. Temperature data indicate an optimum at 20 degrees C or above, with little increase in rate to 60 degrees C. Pyrophosphate can be used instead of ATP, with lesser yields resulting. The ATP-aided syntheses of peptides in aqueous solution occur with several types of proteinous amino acid.
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Fox SW, Nakashima T. The assembly and properties of protobiological structures: the beginnings of cellular peptide synthesis. Biosystems 1980; 12:155-66. [PMID: 7397322 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(80)90013-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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Lacey JC, Yuki A, Fox SW. Coprecipitation of thermal lysine-rich proteinoids with polyribonucleotides. Biosystems 1979; 11:1-7. [PMID: 465654 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(79)90015-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Lacey JC, Stephens DP, Fox SW. Selective formation of microparticles by homopolyribonucleotides and proteinoids rich in individual amino acids. Biosystems 1979; 11:9-17. [PMID: 465659 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(79)90016-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Grote JR, Syren RM, Fox SW. Effect of products from heated amino acids on conductance in lipid bilayer membranes and non-aqueous solvents. Biosystems 1978; 10:287-92. [PMID: 747745 DOI: 10.1016/0303-2647(78)90011-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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