51
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Bonfio C, Russell DA, Green NJ, Mariani A, Sutherland JD. Activation chemistry drives the emergence of functionalised protocells. Chem Sci 2020; 11:10688-10697. [PMID: 34094321 PMCID: PMC8162433 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc04506c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The complexity of the simplest conceivable cell suggests that the chemistry of prebiotic mixtures needs to be explored to understand the intricate network of prebiotic reactions that led to the emergence of life. Early cells probably relied upon compatible and interconnected chemistries to link RNA, peptides and membranes. Here we show that several types of vesicles, composed of prebiotically plausible mixtures of amphiphiles, spontaneously form and sustain the methyl isocyanide-mediated activation of amino acids, peptides and nucleotides. Activation chemistry also drives the advantageous conversion of reactive monoacylglycerol phosphates into inert cyclophospholipids, thus supporting their potential role as major constituents of protocells. Moreover, activation of prebiotic building blocks within fatty acid-based vesicles yields lipidated species capable of localising to and functionalising primitive membranes. Our findings describe a potentially prebiotic scenario in which the components of primitive cells undergo activation and provide new species that might have enabled an increase in the functionality of protocells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Bonfio
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue Cambridge CB2 0QH UK
| | - David A Russell
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue Cambridge CB2 0QH UK
| | - Nicholas J Green
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue Cambridge CB2 0QH UK
| | - Angelica Mariani
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue Cambridge CB2 0QH UK
| | - John D Sutherland
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue Cambridge CB2 0QH UK
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52
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Abstract
Either stereo reactants or stereo catalysis from achiral or chiral molecules are a prerequisite to obtain pure enantiomeric lipid derivatives. We reviewed a few plausibly organic syntheses of phospholipids under prebiotic conditions with special attention paid to the starting materials as pro-chiral dihydroxyacetone and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), which are the key molecules to break symmetry in phospholipids. The advantages of homochiral membranes compared to those of heterochiral membranes were analysed in terms of specific recognition, optimal functions of enzymes, membrane fluidity and topological packing. All biological membranes contain enantiomerically pure lipids in modern bacteria, eukarya and archaea. The contemporary archaea, comprising of methanogens, halobacteria and thermoacidophiles, are living under extreme conditions reminiscent of primitive environment and may indicate the origin of one ancient evolution path of lipid biosynthesis. The analysis of the known lipid metabolism reveals that all modern cells including archaea synthetize enantiomerically pure lipid precursors from prochiral DHAP. Sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (G1PDH), usually found in archaea, catalyses the formation of sn-glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P), while sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) catalyses the formation of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) in bacteria and eukarya. The selective enzymatic activity seems to be the main strategy that evolution retained to obtain enantiomerically pure lipids. The occurrence of two genes encoding for G1PDH and G3PDH served to build up an evolutionary tree being the basis of our hypothesis article focusing on the evolution of these two genes. Gene encoding for G3PDH in eukarya may originate from G3PDH gene found in rare archaea indicating that archaea appeared earlier in the evolutionary tree than eukarya. Archaea and bacteria evolved probably separately, due to their distinct respective genes coding for G1PDH and G3PDH. We propose that prochiral DHAP is an essential molecule since it provides a convergent link between G1DPH and G3PDH. The synthesis of enantiopure phospholipids from DHAP appeared probably firstly in the presence of chemical catalysts, before being catalysed by enzymes which were the products of later Darwinian selection. The enzymes were probably selected for their efficient catalytic activities during evolution from large libraries of vesicles containing amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, lipids, and meteorite components that induced symmetry imbalance.
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53
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Muchowska KB, Varma SJ, Moran J. Nonenzymatic Metabolic Reactions and Life's Origins. Chem Rev 2020; 120:7708-7744. [PMID: 32687326 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 123] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Prebiotic chemistry aims to explain how the biochemistry of life as we know it came to be. Most efforts in this area have focused on provisioning compounds of importance to life by multistep synthetic routes that do not resemble biochemistry. However, gaining insight into why core metabolism uses the molecules, reactions, pathways, and overall organization that it does requires us to consider molecules not only as synthetic end goals. Equally important are the dynamic processes that build them up and break them down. This perspective has led many researchers to the hypothesis that the first stage of the origin of life began with the onset of a primitive nonenzymatic version of metabolism, initially catalyzed by naturally occurring minerals and metal ions. This view of life's origins has come to be known as "metabolism first". Continuity with modern metabolism would require a primitive version of metabolism to build and break down ketoacids, sugars, amino acids, and ribonucleotides in much the same way as the pathways that do it today. This review discusses metabolic pathways of relevance to the origin of life in a manner accessible to chemists, and summarizes experiments suggesting several pathways might have their roots in prebiotic chemistry. Finally, key remaining milestones for the protometabolic hypothesis are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sreejith J Varma
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Joseph Moran
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS UMR 7006, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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54
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Piast RW, Garstka M, Misicka A, Wieczorek RM. Small Cyclic Peptide for Pyrophosphate Dependent Ligation in Prebiotic Environments. Life (Basel) 2020; 10:life10070103. [PMID: 32630714 PMCID: PMC7400013 DOI: 10.3390/life10070103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
All life on Earth uses one universal biochemistry stemming from one universal common ancestor of all known living organisms. One of the most striking features of this universal biochemistry is its utter dependence on phosphate group transfer between biochemical molecules. Both nucleic acid and peptide biological synthesis relies heavily on phosphate group transfer. Such dependents strongly indicate very early incorporation of phosphate chemistry in the origin of life. Perhaps as early as prebiotic soup stage. We report here on a short cyclic peptide, c(RPDDHR), designed rationally for pyrophosphate interaction, which is able to create a new amide bond dependent on the presence of pyrophosphate. We believe this result to be a first step in the exploration of Phosphate Transfer Catalysts that must have been present and active in prebiotic soup and must have laid down foundations for the universal bioenergetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radosław W. Piast
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland; (R.W.P.); (A.M.)
| | - Maciej Garstka
- Department of Metabolic Regulation, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland;
| | - Aleksandra Misicka
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland; (R.W.P.); (A.M.)
| | - Rafał M. Wieczorek
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland; (R.W.P.); (A.M.)
- Correspondence:
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55
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Becker S, Feldmann J, Wiedemann S, Okamura H, Schneider C, Iwan K, Crisp A, Rossa M, Amatov T, Carell T. Unified prebiotically plausible synthesis of pyrimidine and purine RNA ribonucleotides. Science 2020; 366:76-82. [PMID: 31604305 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax2747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Theories about the origin of life require chemical pathways that allow formation of life's key building blocks under prebiotically plausible conditions. Complex molecules like RNA must have originated from small molecules whose reactivity was guided by physico-chemical processes. RNA is constructed from purine and pyrimidine nucleosides, both of which are required for accurate information transfer, and thus Darwinian evolution. Separate pathways to purines and pyrimidines have been reported, but their concurrent syntheses remain a challenge. We report the synthesis of the pyrimidine nucleosides from small molecules and ribose, driven solely by wet-dry cycles. In the presence of phosphate-containing minerals, 5'-mono- and diphosphates also form selectively in one-pot reactions. The pathway is compatible with purine synthesis, allowing the concurrent formation of all Watson-Crick bases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sidney Becker
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany.,Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Jonas Feldmann
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany
| | - Stefan Wiedemann
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany
| | - Hidenori Okamura
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany.,Institute for Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
| | - Christina Schneider
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany
| | - Katharina Iwan
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany.,Centre for Translational Omics, University College London, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Antony Crisp
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany
| | - Martin Rossa
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany
| | - Tynchtyk Amatov
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany.,Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Thomas Carell
- Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department of Chemistry, LMU München, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377 München, Germany.
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56
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Nunn AVW, Guy GW, Botchway SW, Bell JD. From sunscreens to medicines: Can a dissipation hypothesis explain the beneficial aspects of many plant compounds? Phytother Res 2020; 34:1868-1888. [PMID: 32166791 PMCID: PMC7496984 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Medicine has utilised plant‐based treatments for millennia, but precisely how they work is unclear. One approach is to use a thermodynamic viewpoint that life arose by dissipating geothermal and/or solar potential. Hence, the ability to dissipate energy to maintain homeostasis is a fundamental principle in all life, which can be viewed as an accretion system where layers of complexity have built upon core abiotic molecules. Many of these compounds are chromophoric and are now involved in multiple pathways. Plants have further evolved a plethora of chromophoric compounds that can not only act as sunscreens and redox modifiers, but also have now become integrated into a generalised stress adaptive system. This could be an extension of the dissipative process. In animals, many of these compounds are hormetic, modulating mitochondria and calcium signalling. They can also display anti‐pathogen effects. They could therefore modulate bioenergetics across all life due to the conserved electron transport chain and proton gradient. In this review paper, we focus on well‐described medicinal compounds, such as salicylic acid and cannabidiol and suggest, at least in animals, their activity reflects their evolved function in plants in relation to stress adaptation, which itself evolved to maintain dissipative homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alistair V W Nunn
- Research Centre for Optimal Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London, UK
| | | | - Stanley W Botchway
- STFC, UKRI & Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
| | - Jimmy D Bell
- Research Centre for Optimal Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London, UK
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57
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Frenkel-Pinter M, Samanta M, Ashkenasy G, Leman LJ. Prebiotic Peptides: Molecular Hubs in the Origin of Life. Chem Rev 2020; 120:4707-4765. [PMID: 32101414 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The fundamental roles that peptides and proteins play in today's biology makes it almost indisputable that peptides were key players in the origin of life. Insofar as it is appropriate to extrapolate back from extant biology to the prebiotic world, one must acknowledge the critical importance that interconnected molecular networks, likely with peptides as key components, would have played in life's origin. In this review, we summarize chemical processes involving peptides that could have contributed to early chemical evolution, with an emphasis on molecular interactions between peptides and other classes of organic molecules. We first summarize mechanisms by which amino acids and similar building blocks could have been produced and elaborated into proto-peptides. Next, non-covalent interactions of peptides with other peptides as well as with nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, metal ions, and aromatic molecules are discussed in relation to the possible roles of such interactions in chemical evolution of structure and function. Finally, we describe research involving structural alternatives to peptides and covalent adducts between amino acids/peptides and other classes of molecules. We propose that ample future breakthroughs in origin-of-life chemistry will stem from investigations of interconnected chemical systems in which synergistic interactions between different classes of molecules emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moran Frenkel-Pinter
- NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, https://centerforchemicalevolution.com/.,School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Mousumi Samanta
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Gonen Ashkenasy
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Luke J Leman
- NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, https://centerforchemicalevolution.com/.,Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
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58
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Preiner M, Asche S, Becker S, Betts HC, Boniface A, Camprubi E, Chandru K, Erastova V, Garg SG, Khawaja N, Kostyrka G, Machné R, Moggioli G, Muchowska KB, Neukirchen S, Peter B, Pichlhöfer E, Radványi Á, Rossetto D, Salditt A, Schmelling NM, Sousa FL, Tria FDK, Vörös D, Xavier JC. The Future of Origin of Life Research: Bridging Decades-Old Divisions. Life (Basel) 2020; 10:E20. [PMID: 32110893 PMCID: PMC7151616 DOI: 10.3390/life10030020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the origin of life is highly heterogeneous. After a peculiar historical development, it still includes strongly opposed views which potentially hinder progress. In the 1st Interdisciplinary Origin of Life Meeting, early-career researchers gathered to explore the commonalities between theories and approaches, critical divergence points, and expectations for the future. We find that even though classical approaches and theories-e.g. bottom-up and top-down, RNA world vs. metabolism-first-have been prevalent in origin of life research, they are ceasing to be mutually exclusive and they can and should feed integrating approaches. Here we focus on pressing questions and recent developments that bridge the classical disciplines and approaches, and highlight expectations for future endeavours in origin of life research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Preiner
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Silke Asche
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G128QQ, UK;
| | - Sidney Becker
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK;
| | - Holly C. Betts
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RL, UK;
| | - Adrien Boniface
- Environmental Microbial Genomics, Laboratoire Ampère, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 69130 Ecully, France;
| | - Eloi Camprubi
- Origins Center, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Kuhan Chandru
- Space Science Center (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change, Level 3, Research Complex, National University of Malaysia, UKM Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technicka 5, 16628 Prague 6–Dejvice, Czech Republic
| | - Valentina Erastova
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, UK;
| | - Sriram G. Garg
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Nozair Khawaja
- Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, 12249 Berlin, Germany;
| | | | - Rainer Machné
- Institute of Synthetic Microbiology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (R.M.); (N.M.S.)
- Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Giacomo Moggioli
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4DQ, UK;
| | - Kamila B. Muchowska
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg, France;
| | - Sinje Neukirchen
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Benedikt Peter
- Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany;
| | - Edith Pichlhöfer
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Ádám Radványi
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary (D.V.)
- Institute of Evolution, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3., H-8237 Tihany, Hungary
| | - Daniele Rossetto
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy;
| | - Annalena Salditt
- Systems Biophysics, Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany;
| | - Nicolas M. Schmelling
- Institute of Synthetic Microbiology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (R.M.); (N.M.S.)
- Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Filipa L. Sousa
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Fernando D. K. Tria
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Dániel Vörös
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary (D.V.)
- Institute of Evolution, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3., H-8237 Tihany, Hungary
| | - Joana C. Xavier
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
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59
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Dalai P, Sahai N. A Model Protometabolic Pathway Across Protocell Membranes Assisted by Photocatalytic Minerals. J Phys Chem B 2019. [PMID: 31869230 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b10127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Protocell analogs (lipid vesicles) to modern cell membranes have been postulated as compartments that may have been involved in primordial metabolism during the transition from geochemistry to biochemistry on early Earth. The transduction of light energy into chemical energy for metabolism was a key step in the transition from the earliest metabolisms to phototrophy. Photocatalytic minerals may have served the role of enzymes during these transitional stages. Here, we demonstrate a simple photoheterotrophic protometabolism promoted by photocatalytic minerals across a model protocell (vesicle) membrane. These minerals in the extra-vesicular medium utilized light energy to drive a coupled, multi-step transmembrane electron transfer reaction (TMETR), while simultaneously generating a transmembrane pH gradient and reducing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to NADH within the vesicle. The proton gradient or chemiosmotic potential could have provided a basis for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and NADH could potentially have driven further metabolic chemistry inside the protocells.
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60
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Chemiosmotic energy for primitive cellular life: Proton gradients are generated across lipid membranes by redox reactions coupled to meteoritic quinones. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12447. [PMID: 31462644 PMCID: PMC6713726 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48328-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmembrane proton gradients coupled to, and maintained by, electron transport are ubiquitous sources of chemiosmotic energy in all life today, but how this system first emerged is uncertain. Here we report a model liposome system in which internal ferricyanide serves as an oxidant and external ascorbate or dithionite provide a source of electrons to electron carriers embedded in liposome membranes. Quinones linked the donor to the acceptor in a coupled redox reaction that released protons into the vesicle internal volume as electrons were transported across the membranes, thereby producing substantial pH gradients. Using this system, we found that one or more quinones in extracts from carbonaceous meteorites could serve as coupling agents and that substantial pH gradients developed in the acidic interior of liposomes. If amphiphilic compounds present on the prebiotic Earth assembled into membranous compartments that separate reduced solutes in the external medium from an encapsulated acceptor, quinones can mediate electron and proton transport across the membranes, thereby providing a source of chemiosmotic energy for primitive metabolic reactions.
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61
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de la Escosura A. The Informational Substrate of Chemical Evolution: Implications for Abiogenesis. Life (Basel) 2019; 9:E66. [PMID: 31398942 PMCID: PMC6789672 DOI: 10.3390/life9030066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
A key aspect of biological evolution is the capacity of living systems to process information, coded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and used to direct how the cell works. The overall picture that emerges today from fields such as developmental, synthetic, and systems biology indicates that information processing in cells occurs through a hierarchy of genes regulating the activity of other genes through complex metabolic networks. There is an implicit semiotic character in this way of dealing with information, based on functional molecules that act as signs to achieve self-regulation of the whole network. In contrast to cells, chemical systems are not thought of being able to process information, yet they must have preceded biological organisms, and evolved into them. Hence, there must have been prebiotic molecular assemblies that could somehow process information, in order to regulate their own constituent reactions and supramolecular organization processes. The purpose of this essay is then to reflect about the distinctive features of information in living and non-living matter, and on how the capacity of biological organisms for information processing was possibly rooted in a particular type of chemical systems (here referred to as autonomous chemical systems), which could self-sustain and reproduce through organizational closure of their molecular building blocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés de la Escosura
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IAdChem), Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
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62
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63
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Ball R, Brindley J. The Power Without the Glory: Multiple Roles of Hydrogen Peroxide in Mediating the Origin of Life. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:675-684. [PMID: 30707597 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The hydrogen peroxide (HP) crucible hypothesis proposed here holds that life began in a localized environment on Earth that was perfused with a flow of hydrogen peroxide from a sustained external source, which powered and mediated molecular evolution and the protocellular RNA world. In this article, we consolidate and review recent evidence, both circumstantial and tested in simulation in our work and in the laboratory in others' work, for its multiple roles in the evolution of the first living systems: (1) it provides a periodic power source as the thiosulfate-hydrogen peroxide (THP) redox oscillator, (2) it may act as an agent of molecular change and evolution and mediator of homochirality, and (3) the THP oscillator, subject to Brownian input perturbations, produces a weighted distribution of output thermal fluctuations that favor polymerization and chemical diversification over chemical degradation and simplification. The hypothesis can help to clarify the hero and villain roles of hydrogen peroxide in cell function, and on the singularity of life: of necessity, life evolved early an armory of catalases, the continuing, and all-pervasive presence of which prevents hydrogen peroxide from accumulating anywhere in sufficient quantities to host a second origin. The HP crucible hypothesis is radical, but based on well-known chemistry and physics, it is eminently testable in the laboratory, and many of our simulations provide recipes for such experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowena Ball
- 1 Mathematical Sciences Institute and Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - John Brindley
- 2 School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
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64
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Otrin L, Kleineberg C, Caire da Silva L, Landfester K, Ivanov I, Wang M, Bednarz C, Sundmacher K, Vidaković-Koch T. Artificial Organelles for Energy Regeneration. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 3:e1800323. [PMID: 32648709 DOI: 10.1002/adbi.201800323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2018] [Revised: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
One of the critical steps in sustaining life-mimicking processes in synthetic cells is energy, i.e., adenosine triphosphate (ATP) regeneration. Previous studies have shown that the simple addition of ATP or ATP regeneration systems, which do not regenerate ATP directly from ADP and Pi , have no or only limited success due to accumulation of ATP hydrolysis products. In general, ATP regeneration can be achieved by converting light or chemical energy into ATP, which may also involve redox transformations of cofactors. The present contribution provides an overview of the existing ATP regeneration strategies and the related nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+ ) redox cycling, with a focus on compartmentalized systems. Special attention is being paid to those approaches where so-called artificial organelles are developed. They comprise a semipermeable membrane functionalized by biological or man-made components and employ external energy in the form of light or nutrients in order to generate a transmembrane proton gradient, which is further utilized for ATP synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lado Otrin
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Christin Kleineberg
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Lucas Caire da Silva
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Katharina Landfester
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Ivan Ivanov
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Minhui Wang
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Claudia Bednarz
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Kai Sundmacher
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Tanja Vidaković-Koch
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstraße 1, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
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Bonfio C, Caumes C, Duffy CD, Patel BH, Percivalle C, Tsanakopoulou M, Sutherland JD. Length-Selective Synthesis of Acylglycerol-Phosphates through Energy-Dissipative Cycling. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:3934-3939. [PMID: 30767518 PMCID: PMC6506141 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b12331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
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The main aim of origins
of life research is to find a plausible
sequence of transitions from prebiotic chemistry to nascent biology.
In this context, understanding how and when phospholipid membranes
appeared on early Earth is critical to elucidating the prebiotic pathways
that led to the emergence of primitive cells. Here we show that exposing
glycerol-2-phosphate to acylating agents leads to the formation of
a library of acylglycerol-phosphates. Medium-chain acylglycerol-phosphates
were found to self-assemble into vesicles stable across a wide range
of conditions and capable of retaining mono- and oligonucleotides.
Starting with a mixture of activated carboxylic acids of different
lengths, iterative cycling of acylation and hydrolysis steps allowed
for the selection of longer-chain acylglycerol-phosphates. Our results
suggest that a selection pathway based on energy-dissipative cycling
could have driven the selective synthesis of phospholipids on early
Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Bonfio
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - Cécile Caumes
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - Colm D Duffy
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - Bhavesh H Patel
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - Claudia Percivalle
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - Maria Tsanakopoulou
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
| | - John D Sutherland
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Francis Crick Avenue , Cambridge CB2 0QH , United Kingdom
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