Wieczorek Rafal, Adamala Katarzyna, Gasperi Tecla, Polticelli Fabio, Stano Pasquale
Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Life (Basel). 2017 Apr 9;7(2):19. doi: 10.3390/life7020019.
Catalysis is an essential feature of living systems biochemistry, and probably, it played a key role in primordial times, helping to produce more complex molecules from simple ones. However, enzymes, the biocatalysts par excellence, were not available in such an ancient context, and so, instead, small molecule catalysis (organocatalysis) may have occurred. The best candidates for the role of primitive organocatalysts are amino acids and short random peptides, which are believed to have been available in an early period on Earth. In this review, we discuss the occurrence of primordial organocatalysts in the form of peptides, in particular commenting on reports about seryl-histidine dipeptide, which have recently been investigated. Starting from this specific case, we also mention a peptide fragment condensation scenario, as well as other potential roles of peptides in primordial times. The review actually aims to stimulate further investigation on an unexplored field of research, namely one that specifically looks at the catalytic activity of small random peptides with respect to reactions relevant to prebiotic chemistry and early chemical evolution.
催化作用是生命系统生物化学的一个基本特征，而且在远古时代它可能发挥了关键作用，有助于将简单分子转化为更复杂的分子。然而，在如此古老的环境中，并不存在堪称卓越生物催化剂的酶，因此，小分子催化（有机催化）可能已经出现。原始有机催化剂角色的最佳候选者是氨基酸和短随机肽，据信它们在地球早期就已存在。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了肽形式的原始有机催化剂的存在情况，特别评论了最近所研究的关于丝氨酰 - 组氨酸二肽的报道。从这个具体案例出发，我们还提及了肽片段缩合情况以及肽在远古时代的其他潜在作用。这篇综述的实际目的是激发对一个未被探索的研究领域的进一步研究，即专门研究短随机肽对于与益生元化学和早期化学进化相关反应的催化活性的领域。
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