Yao S, Ghosh I, Zutshi R, Chmielewski J
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
Nature. 1998 Dec 3;396(6710):447-50. doi: 10.1038/24814.
Self-replication has been demonstrated in synthetic chemical systems based on oligonucleotides, peptides and complementary molecules without natural analogues. However, within a living cell virtually no molecule catalyses its own formation, and the search for chemical systems in which both auto- and cross-catalysis can occur has therefore attracted wide interest. One such system, consisting of two self-replicating peptides that catalyse each other's production, has been reported. Here we describe a four-component peptide system that is capable of auto- and cross-catalysis and allows for the selective amplification of one or more of the products by changing the reaction conditions. The ability of this system selectively to amplify one or more molecules in response to changes in environmental conditions such as pH or salt concentration supports the suggestions that self-replicating peptides may have played a role in the origin of life.
在基于寡核苷酸、肽和无天然类似物的互补分子的合成化学系统中，自我复制已得到证实。然而，在活细胞内，几乎没有分子能催化自身的形成，因此，寻找能够同时发生自催化和交叉催化的化学系统引起了广泛关注。据报道，有一个这样的系统，由两种相互催化产生的自我复制肽组成。在此，我们描述了一个四组分肽系统，它能够进行自催化和交叉催化，并通过改变反应条件实现一种或多种产物的选择性扩增。该系统能够根据诸如pH值或盐浓度等环境条件的变化选择性地扩增一种或多种分子，这支持了自我复制肽可能在生命起源中发挥作用的观点。
