Bapat Niraja V, Paithankar Harshad, Chugh Jeetender, Rajamani Sudha
Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, 411008, India.
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, 411008, India.
Commun Chem. 2020 Apr 30;3(1):51. doi: 10.1038/s42004-020-0300-7.
The prebiotic soup of a putative 'RNA World' would have been replete with a plethora of molecules resulting from complex chemical syntheses and exogeneous delivery. The presence of background molecules could lead to molecular crowding, potentially affecting the course of the reactions facilitated therein. Using NMR spectroscopy, we have analyzed the effect of crowding on the stacking ability of RNA monomers. Our findings corroborate that the purines stack more efficiently than the pyrimidine ribonucleotides. This competence is further enhanced in the presence of a crowding agent. This enhanced stacking could result in greater sequestration of the purine monomers, putting their ready availability for relevant nonenzymatic reactions into question. Thus, this study demonstrates the need for systematic characterization of molecular crowding in the context of prebiotically pertinent processes. Unraveling such phenomena is essential for our understanding of the transition from abiotic to biotic, during the origin of life.
假定的“RNA世界”的益生元汤中会充满大量由复杂化学合成和外源输送产生的分子。背景分子的存在可能导致分子拥挤，从而潜在地影响其中所促进的反应进程。我们利用核磁共振光谱分析了拥挤对RNA单体堆积能力的影响。我们的研究结果证实，嘌呤比嘧啶核糖核苷酸堆积得更有效。在存在拥挤剂的情况下，这种能力会进一步增强。这种增强的堆积可能导致嘌呤单体的更大隔离，从而使它们能否随时用于相关非酶反应受到质疑。因此，本研究表明有必要在与益生元相关的过程中对分子拥挤进行系统表征。揭示此类现象对于我们理解生命起源过程中从非生物到生物的转变至关重要。
