Evidence for compounds hydrolyzable to amino acids in aqueous extracts of apollo 11 and apollo 12 lunar fines

Hydrolyzates of aqueous extracts of Apollo 11 fines, an Apollo 12 trench sample, and an Apollo 12 surface sample have been analyzed on an ultrasensitive amino acid analyzer. The total content of amino acids recovered ranged from 20 to 70 parts per billion of lunar soil. Amino acids are not recovered by the direct hydrolysis of lunar fines, presumably because of decomposition in the presence of the large excess of lunar mineral. As judged by retention time, glycine is the dominant amino acid found; alanine is secondarily present in each case in the profile. Only a few amino acids have been recorded in each analysis. The pattern is relatively consistent in the samples from the three locations; the pattern from either hydrolyzed or unhydrolyzed extracts differs markedly from that of hydrolyzed or unhydrolyzed handprints. The evidence is not consistent with contamination of the kind expected by many investigators.

Thermal copoly(amino acids) as inhibitors of glyoxalase I

A number of copoly(alpha-amino acids) have been prepared thermally; some have been found to function as inhibitors of glyoxalase I, an enzyme which occupies a central position in Szent-Györgyi's theory of tumour genesis. These polymers are also of interest in the search for synthetic peptides having carcinostatic activity, since many natural peptides are active. The way in which the inhibitory activity varies with composition of the synthetic polymers has been investigated. Various properties (hydrophobicity, molecular weight, u.v. absorption, kinetic type) have been examined in a search for correlates of inhibitory activity. The relationship to the origin of enzyme control mechanisms is discussed.

Simulation of organismic morphology and behavior by synthetic poly-alpha-amino acids

Experiments imitating spontaneous geothermal occurrences have yielded most of the amino acids found in protein. All of the amino acids found in protein are simultaneously condensed, by heating in a range of appropriate conditions, to polymers which have many of the properties of proteins. These properties include molecular weights of many thousand, digestibility by proteolytic enzymes, and catalytic activities. One of the other properties is the tendency to form structured units; these units have many of the attributes of biocells. The processes indicated, and others, comprise a conceptual continuum which, according to accumulated information, must have occurred under the conditions existing in regions of the primitive Earth.

Excitable artificial cells of proteinoid

The proteinoid cells are assembled of thermal polymers of amino acids. Typically, an appropriate mixture of amino acids containing aspartic or glutamic acid is heated at 190 degrees C for 6 h, stirred with water for 2 h, dialyzed during 2 d, and lyophilized. Spheroidal cells are made from such polymer by dissolving it in the water by boiling, and then cooling. Many of them can be made by sonication at room temperature. These artificial cells, ranging from microns to tens of microns in diameter (depending on composition and preparation), have double membranes and various internal compositions. The spherules can microencapsulate dyes, oxidant-reductant compounds or acceptor-donor substances, and can be packed together. Such spherules display electrical polarization and electrical discharges and respond to intra- and extracellular ionic and electric influence upon membrane and action potential. These properties arise from the double membrane structure, asymmetric membrane permeability, and channeling phenomena. Such features as exponential dependence of the steady-state conductance and capacitance as well as negative resistance of the membrane seem to be responsible for the flip-flop alternations of the membrane polarization, rhythmic electric oscillations, and all-or-none action potentials. The presence of such chromophores as pteridine and flavin in polymers constituting these cells is responsible for their photosensitivity.

From non-random molecular structure to life and mind

The evolutionary hierarchy molecular structure-->macromolecular structure-->protobiological structure-->biological structure-->biological functions has been traced by experiments. The sequence always moves through protein. Extension of the experiments traces the formation of nucleic acids instructed by proteins. The proteins themselves were, in this picture, instructed by the self-sequencing of precursor amino acids. While the sequence indicated explains the thread of the emergence of life, protein in cellular membrane also provides the only known material basis for the emergence of mind in the context of emergence of life.

Restraint reduction in acute care: an interdisciplinary approach

The authors discuss an interdisciplinary project to reduce the use of restraints in an acute care setting. They describe the process, beginning with initial planning and then working and evaluation phases. Common patient problems often requiring restraint are identified, with suggested solutions. Outcomes of the project were that fall rates did not increase and the use of restraints decreased by 83%.

TGF-beta 1 and IFN-gamma direct macrophage activation by TNF-alpha to osteoclastic or cytocidal phenotype

TNF-related activation-induced cytokine (TRANCE; also called receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), osteoclast differentiation factor (ODF), osteoprotegerin ligand (OPGL), and TNFSF11) induces the differentiation of progenitors of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage into osteoclasts in the presence of M-CSF. Surprisingly, in view of its potent ability to induce inflammation and activate macrophage cytocidal function, TNF-alpha has also been found to induce osteoclast-like cells in vitro under similar conditions. This raises questions concerning both the nature of osteoclasts and the mechanism of lineage choice in mononuclear phagocytes. We found that, as with TRANCE, the macrophage deactivator TGF-beta(1) strongly promoted TNF-alpha-induced osteoclast-like cell formation from immature bone marrow macrophages. This was abolished by IFN-gamma. However, TRANCE did not share the ability of TNF-alpha to activate NO production or heighten respiratory burst potential by macrophages, or induce inflammation on s.c. injection into mice. This suggests that TGF-beta(1) promotes osteoclast formation not only by inhibiting cytocidal behavior, but also by actively directing TNF-alpha activation of precursors toward osteoclasts. The osteoclast appears to be an equivalent, alternative destiny for precursors to that of cytocidal macrophage, and may represent an activated variant of scavenger macrophage.

Interferon-gamma directly inhibits TRANCE-induced osteoclastogenesis

The immune system has profound effects on bone remodeling. IFN-gamma, a major product of immune cells, potently inhibits bone resorption, but its mechanism of action is unknown. We found in cultures of stroma-free mononuclear precursors that IFN-gamma strongly suppresses TRANCE/RANKL-induced osteoclast formation in a dose-dependent manner. This direct effect on osteoclast progenitors was not due to stimulation of NO production by IFN-gamma, as the NOS inhibitors 1400W and L-NAME were unable to reverse the suppression. However, TGFbeta(1), which has opposing actions to IFN-gamma on diverse cellular functions, was able to antagonize the effect of IFN-gamma. This suggests that IFN-gamma prevents osteoclast formation by actively directing the differentiation of osteoclastic progenitors toward an alternative cytocidal lineage to the osteoclast.

Activation of osteoclasts by interleukin-1: divergent responsiveness in osteoclasts formed in vivo and in vitro

Recently, it has been found that osteoclasts are induced and activated by osteoblastic cells through expression of receptor activator NF-kB ligand (RANKL), and that soluble recombinant RANKL, with M-CSF, can replace the need for osteoblastic cells in osteoclast formation. We exploited this opportunity to compare the responsiveness of osteoclast-like cells (OCL) formed in vitro in the absence of osteoblasts, with that of osteoclasts ex vivo. We found that while OCL responded to several hormones and cytokines like ex vivo osteoclasts, their responsiveness to interleukin-1 (IL-1) was fundamentally different: IL1 directly stimulated actin ring formation in OCL, but had no effect on actin rings or survival in osteoclasts ex vivo unless osteoblastic cells were present. This difference could not be attributed to the use of plastic culture substrates for OCL formation, nor to osteoblastic contamination, and did not seem to be mediated by the macrophages that form in OCL cultures. To understand the mechanisms by which IL-1 induces bone loss, it will need to be determined whether or not IL-1-responsive OCLs have a counterpart in vivo. Whichever is the case, our data suggest that the behavior of osteoclasts formed in culture will not always predict that of osteoclasts in vivo.

Osteoclast lineage commitment of bone marrow precursors through expression of membrane-bound TRANCE

Osteoclast formation from hemopoietic precursors is induced by TRANCE (also called RANKL, ODF, and OPGL), a membrane-bound ligand expressed by bone marrow stromal cells. Because soluble recombinant TRANCE is a suboptimal osteoclastogenic stimulus, and to eliminate the need for such dependence on stromal cells, membrane-bound TRANCE was expressed in hematopoietic precursors using retroviral gene transfer. Four TRANCE-expressing osteoclast cell lines were established that continuously generate large numbers of multinucleated cells and express tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and calcitonin receptors. The multinuclear cells are long-lived and either fuse continuously with each other and with mononuclear cells to form enormous syncytia, or separate to form daughter multinuclear cells. When formed on bone, but not on plastic, the majority of multinuclear cells develop actin rings on bone, and resorb bone, suggesting that bone matrix may provide additional signals that facilitate osteoclastic functional maturation. Surprisingly, multinuclear cells originate from fusion of proliferating mononuclear cells that strongly express the mature macrophage markers F4/80 and Fc receptor, which are not expressed by osteoclasts. These results indicate that osteoclasts can be derived from F4/80-positive and Fc receptor-positive cells, and that TRANCE induces osteoclastic differentiation partly by suppressing the macrophage phenotype.

Mechanical loading stimulates bone formation by reactivation of bone lining cells in 13-week-old rats

The bone formation that occurs in response to mechanical stimulation is generally considered to be a means by which bone adapts to changes in its mechanical environment. We have previously shown that the expression of genes for bone matrix proteins is maximal 72 h after a single 5-minute episode of loading of tail vertebrae of 13-week-old female rats, that the predominant increase in mineralization occurs after 3 days, and that the osteogenic response to mechanical stimulation is not dependent on prior bone resorption. We have now investigated the cellular correlates of this osteogenic response. No proliferation was detected, by pulse or flash labeling, in the trabecular bone surface cells of animals killed 1 h to 10 days after the loading episode. Ultrastructural examination revealed that most of the cells covering the trabecular bone surface of control vertebrae were flat bone lining cells. After mechanical stimulation, the trabecular bone surface cells developed ultrastructural features of osteoblastic differentiation and activity, with acquisition of an increasingly cuboidal shape, rounded nuclei, and abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum. Morphometric analysis of the mean cell area, mean nuclear area, and cell and nuclear height showed that they were all maximal 48 h after loading. By 120 h after loading, the appearances of bone surface cells had reverted to those of control vertebrae. Thus, mechanical loading appears to activate lining cells, with a temporal sequence that correlates with bone matrix production.

Nitric oxide synthase expression in bone cells

We have localized the expression of the three main nitric oxide synthases (eNOS, bNOS, and iNOS) in bone cells of rats and humans using immunohistochemistry. The predominant isoform expressed in normal adult bone was the constitutive isoform, eNOS, mainly in cells of osteoblastic lineage. In adult bone, the osteoblast lineage cells exhibiting eNOS expression were flat bone lining cells and osteocytes, but cuboidal osteoblasts were consistently negative. Expression for bNOS was not detected in any bone cells. iNOS expression was not detected in any cells of osteoblastic lineage in normal adult rat or human bone, but was observed in cuboidal osteoblasts of adult rats with experimental colitis, in which the suppression in bone formation may be cytokine mediated. Osteoclasts in normal rat tissue showed expression for both eNOS and iNOS, but these were patchy. As for cells of the osteoblast lineage, osteoclasts were negative for bNOS. Thus, our findings support evidence, from in vitro studies and from animal experiments, that nitric oxide may play an important role in the physiology of bone.

Role of nitric oxide and prostaglandins in mechanically induced bone formation

We have previously shown that prostaglandins (PG) and nitric oxide (NO) are required in the induction of bone formation by mechanical stimulation. We therefore tested the ability of NO donors, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine (SNAP), and S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO) to mimic or augment the osteogenic response of bone to a minimal mechanical stimulus. In rats administered vehicle or the vasodilator hydralazine, stimulation of the 8th caudal vertebra increased bone formation. In animals treated with SNAP or GSNO, there was significant potentiation of this osteogenic response. The bone formation rate in nonloaded vertebrae was unaffected by administration of the NO donors. We also found that while inhibition of either PG or NO production at the time of loading caused a partial suppression of c-fos mRNA expression in the loaded vertebrae, administration of indomethacin and NG-monomethyl-L-arginine together markedly suppressed c-fos expression. This suggests that although both PG and NO are required in mechanically induced osteogenesis, they appear to be generated largely independently of each other. Moreover, while exogenous NO potentiates the stimulatory effect of mechanical loading on bone formation, the lack of effect in nonloaded vertebrae suggests that NO is necessary but not sufficient for induction of bone formation.

Nitric oxide is an early mediator of the increase in bone formation by mechanical stimulation

We tested the ability of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA), an inhibitor of NO synthase (NOS), to suppress the osteogenic response in a recently developed model of mechanically induced osteogenesis. L-NMMA was given either as a single intraperitoneal dose, 15 min before the episode of mechanical stimulation, or as four doses every 6 h, commencing 2 h after loading. Administration of L-NMMA before loading completely prevented the increase in cancellous bone formation by mechanical stimulation. This suppression was largely lost when L-NMMA was administered after loading. Thus the response is likely to be due to activation of a preexistent constitutive NOS in bone cells during or very soon after mechanical stimulation. Suppression of the osteogenic response by L-NMMA was prevented by coadministration of L-arginine but not by the inactive isomer, D-arginine. These changes in cancellous bone were mirrored by similar changes on the corticoendosteal and periosteal bone surfaces. These data suggest that early release of NO is a key signal in the transduction of mechanical stimuli into subsequent bone formation.

Assessment and management of hypertension in the acute ischemic stroke patient

The assessment and treatment of hypertension in the patient with acute ischemic stroke is a controversial issue in the overall management of such patients. The primary physiologic and pathologic concepts at the core of the issue are autoregulatory failure and shift, cytotoxic and vasogenic edema, vascular pathology and hemorrhage. Clues about the interrelationships of these factors to hypertension in the acute stroke patient are available to the nurse. By integrating pathophysiologic concepts with knowledge gained during assessment of stroke onset, patient history and clinical presentation, the nurse is better prepared to monitor and provide care for the acute stroke patient.

Thermal synthesis of amino acids and the origin of life

The recent review by Marshall (1994) of the production of amino acids from the interstellar components, formaldehyde and ammonia, is placed in the larger context of the origin of life. Thermal energy, being ubiquitous in the Earth, emerges as the sole necessary form of energy. To appreciate the overview of the natural evolutionary sequence it is necessary to recognize stepwiseness in evolution, a principle that has however been often ignored. Since self organization of thermal protein to cells is instantaneous, but only one step in a geochemical ladder, individual steps may be regarded as instantaneous, while the sequence requires measurable time. Two steps indicated are extrusion of a hot, dry organic magma of amino acids --> peptides into an aqueous environment in which occurs a second step of self organization. In this paper, spinoffs of the defensible theory for the origin of life have been briefly reviewed as a fundamental consequence of nonrandom thermal copolymerization of amino acids.

Effects of thermal peptides on retention of footshock avoidance training in mice

Some hydrophobic polypeptides known as thermal proteins have been found to have neurotrophic effects. Thermal proteins were synthesized from aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, and tryptophan. Two hydrophobic and one nonhydrophobic polymers were injected intracerebroventricularly into brains of mice after partial training on footshock avoidance run in a T-maze. When retention was tested 1 week later, the hydrophobic polymers enhanced retention while the nonhydrophobic polymer did not. Thermal proteins exhibiting hydrophobicity and having neurotrophic effects may aid in altering synaptic connections by facilitating cell recognition.

Synthesis of life in the lab? Defining a protoliving system

The synthesis of a living system in the lab has been judged by a number of critics as partly attained by the proteinoid microsphere because of its primitive properties of metabolism, growth, and reproduction. These same critics, however, judge the organism as not alive, or as being 50 to 75 percent alive (Baltscheffsky and Jurka, 1984), owing to the absence of a nucleic acid genetic coding mechanism. The experiments in retracing evolution suggest, however, that the self-sequencing of amino acids was the evolutionary precursor of modern nucleic acid templating; the genetic memory is the molecule. The proteinoid microsphere is not a modern living system, but does represent at least a protoliving system (Fox and Dose, 1972). Berra (1990, p. 75) has commented on other difficulties in defining a protoliving system. In Berra's opinion, metabolism, reproduction, responsiveness to stimuli, and cellularity constitute or describe aliveness. These properties characterize proteinoid microspheres. A number of experiments demonstrate that amino acids in aminoacyl adenylates yield specific products, whereas nucleotides are without effect. For this and related reasons, especially the demonstrated self-sequencing of amino acids when they are warmed, resultant bio-functional properties of self-assembled microstructures, and demonstrated self-sequencing of amino acids in modern systems, the results appear to bridge from the chemical era to the biological period. All the above emerges from a departure in style of research (Young, 1984; Pauling and Zuckerkandl, 1972). The latter authors said, "It appears likely that biogenesis is the passage from a 'non-living system' existing in a large number of states to a 'living' system also existing in a large number of states."(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Promotion of neuronal survival in vitro by thermal proteins and poly(dicarboxylic)amino acids

Evaluating molecules for their ability to promote survival and growth of neurons, we tested thermal proteins on cultures of dissociated fetal rat forebrain neurons. (Thermal proteins are polyamino acids formed when mixtures of amino acids with minimal proportions of glutamic or aspartic acid are heated.) Thermal proteins, added to low-density cultures in serum-free medium, stimulated neurite outgrowth and induced the formation of neuronal networks which survived for 6-10 days. Neurons in control cultures failed to grow and degenerated completely within 2-4 days. Effective concentrations (EC50) of thermal proteins ranged from 3 to 100 micrograms/ml. They were equally effective when present in the medium during the culture time or after precoating of the culture dishes. A single preparation which contained only aspartic and glutamic acid was effective, and similar survival promoting actions were then found for polyglutamic acid and mixed polyamino acids containing glutamic or aspartic acid. Thermal proteins and polyglutamic acid acted in a specific manner since, under the same experimental conditions, many control peptides, proteins and growth hormones failed to promote survival of neurons. Furthermore, their effects were antagonized by heparin, but not heparan sulfate nor chondroitin sulfate. These findings suggest that sequences of successive dicarboxylic amino acid residues are able to promote survival and neurite elongation of cultured neurons and that such sequences are responsible for the survival promoting action of thermal proteins. They invite the speculation that sequences of successive dicarboxylic amino acids, while occur in many proteins and show a high degree of evolutionary conservation, may have functional role in molecular recognition processes during neuronal development.

Thermal proteinoids as excitability-inducing materials

The deposition of thermal copolyamino acids on planar lipid membranes causes oscillations and action potentials upon electrical stimulation. Results are reported for compositionally simple thermal copoly(asp,glu) and for a more heterotonic polyamino acid. The data conform to the interference that electrical activity of cellular membranes is due to the polypeptide components, not to the lipid components. Because of the ease and controllability of producing polypeptides by thermal copolymerization of amino acids, new possibilities in investigation of structure-excitability relationships are provided.

Pharmacological activities in thermal proteins: relationships in molecular evolution

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.

The evolutionary sequence: origin and emergences

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.

Molecular selection in a unified evolutionary sequence

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.

Proteinoid microspheres more stable in hot than in cold water

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.

Self-sequencing of amino acids and origins of polyfunctional protocells

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.

Membrane, action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells

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.

Models for protocellular photophosphorylation

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.

Formation of peptides from amino acids by single or multiple additions of ATP to suspensions of nucleoproteinoid microparticles

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.

Electrical membrane phenomena in spherules from proteinoid and lecithin

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.

Life from an orderly cosmos

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.

Metabolic microspheres: origins and evolution

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.

Synthesis of peptides from amino acids and ATP with lysine-rich proteinoid

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.