Oligomerization of Thioglutamic Acid: Encapsulated Reactions and Lipid Catalysis
Open accessAbstract
For cellular life to begin on the early Earth, a permeation mechanism would be required to allow polar solutes to enter a membrane-bounded compartment. A second process--internal polymerization of peptides from amino acid--would also be an essential step toward the first compartmented metabolic pathways leading to biosynthesis. Here we report a study of amino acid permeation into lipid vesicles, in which thioglutamic acid penetrated lipid bilayer membranes at rates sufficient to support internal polymerization reactions. We also investigated spontaneous non-enzymatic polymerization reactions of thioglutamic acid to form oligopeptides. We found that oligomers up to 11mers are produced in the reaction mixture, and conclude that certain lipid surfaces can act as catalysts in promoting an oligomerization reaction. These observations are pertinent to understanding processes by which peptide bond synthesis could take place in primitive cellular life on the early Earth.
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Lipid surfaces catalyse peptide bond formation in the oligomerization of thioglutamic acid.
“An analogous case is the oligomerization of thioglutamic acid, where lipid surfaces were reported as catalysts for peptide bond formation [191].”
From Systems protobiology: origin of life in lipid catalytic networks (2018) · cites this paper as [191]
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- Authors
- Zepik, H. H., Rajamani, S., Maurel, M.-C., & Deamer, D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Institut Jacques Monod (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Zepik, H. H.
- Venue
- Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
- Published
- 2007-05-26
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 495-505
- ISSN
- 0169-6149 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-0875
- OpenAlex
- W2093610131
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- France-Berkeley Fund
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- oligomerization, lipid vesicles, lipid bilayers, origin of life, early Earth, peptide bond formation
- MeSH terms
- Catalysis, Lipid Bilayers, Lipids, Peptides, Molecular Structure, Glutamic Acid, Dimerization, Evolution, Chemical
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