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A chiroselective peptide replicator

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Saghatelian

    (The Scripps Research Institute)

  • Yohei Yokobayashi

    (The Scripps Research Institute)

  • Kathy Soltani

    (The Scripps Research Institute)

  • M. Reza Ghadiri

    (The Scripps Research Institute)

Abstract

The origin of homochirality in living systems is often attributed to the generation of enantiomeric differences in a pool of chiral prebiotic molecules1,2, but none of the possible physiochemical processes considered1,2,3,4,5,6,7 can produce the significant imbalance required if homochiral biopolymers are to result from simple coupling of suitable precursor molecules. This implies a central role either for additional processes that can selectively amplify an initially minute enantiomeric difference in the starting material1,8,9,10,11,12, or for a nonenzymatic process by which biopolymers undergo chiroselective molecular replication13,14,15,16. Given that molecular self-replication and the capacity for selection are necessary conditions for the emergence of life, chiroselective replication of biopolymers seems a particularly attractive process for explaining homochirality in nature13,14,15,16. Here we report that a 32-residue peptide replicator, designed according to our earlier principles17,18,19,20, is capable of efficiently amplifying homochiral products from a racemic mixture of peptide fragments through a chiroselective autocatalytic cycle. The chiroselective amplification process discriminates between structures possessing even single stereochemical mutations within otherwise homochiral sequences. Moreover, the system exhibits a dynamic stereochemical ‘editing’ function; in contrast to the previously observed error correction20, it makes use of heterochiral sequences that arise through uncatalysed background reactions to catalyse the production of the homochiral product. These results support the idea that self-replicating polypeptides could have played a key role in the origin of homochirality on Earth.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Saghatelian & Yohei Yokobayashi & Kathy Soltani & M. Reza Ghadiri, 2001. "A chiroselective peptide replicator," Nature, Nature, vol. 409(6822), pages 797-801, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:409:y:2001:i:6822:d:10.1038_35057238
    DOI: 10.1038/35057238
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    Cited by:

    1. Jose M. Martínez-Parra & Rebeca Gómez-Ojea & Geert A. Daudey & Martin Calvelo & Hector Fernández-Caro & Javier Montenegro & Julian Bergueiro, 2024. "Exo-chirality of the α-helix," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Desire T. Gijima & Enrique Peacock-López, 2020. "A Dynamic Study of Biochemical Self-Replication," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Xiaosheng Yan & Jinlian Cao & Huan Luo & Zhao Li & Zexing Cao & Yirong Mo & Yun-Bao Jiang, 2024. "Heterochiral coupling to bilateral β-turn structured azapeptides bearing two remote chiral centers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

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