non-enzymatic RNA replication Archives

In silico investigations reveal contact modes and frequency of interactions in peptide/nucleic acid coacervates. (a) Representative simulation snapshot of the R4/RNA8 mixture, showing a cluster of RNA and peptide, and unbound peptide in excess. Inset magnifications highlight the investigated interaction modes, e.g., hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, and π-π/cation-π stacking. (b) Comparison between the number of DNA and RNA interactions with arginine peptides (per frame, per nucleotide), separated into three categories: hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions and stacking. (c) Simplified rendering of R4/DNA8 (blue) and R4/RNA8 (purple) clusters, showing the helical, structured conformation acquired by DNA strands and the more disordered folding acquired by RNA strands, which leaves ribonucleotides exposed to interact with peptides. (d) Number of peptide/oligonucleotide contacts (all modes of interaction), which represents the total number of intermolecular contacts that one molecule of RNA8 or DNA8 forms with R3 or R4. (e) Excess peptide remaining in the simulation box at equilibrium for RNA8 or DNA8 coacervates with R3 or R4. Abbreviations: R = Arginine. -- chemrxiv.org

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Compositional Diversity Of Minimal Coacervates In A Nucleic Acid-peptide World

by Keith CowingNovember 8, 2024November 8, 2024

The early co-evolution of RNA and peptides is at the core of the RNA-peptide world hypothesis. Recent studies suggest that nucleotides and amino acids could have formed and polymerised non-enzymatically […]

non-enzymatic RNA replication

Compositional Diversity Of Minimal Coacervates In A Nucleic Acid-peptide World

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