Selective amide bond formation in redox-active coacervate protocells.

ABSTRACT: Coacervate droplets are promising protocell models because they sequester a wide range of guest molecules and may catalyze their conversion. However, it remains unclear how life's building blocks, including peptides, could be synthesized from primitive precursor molecules inside such protocells. Here, we develop a redox-active protocell model formed by phase separation of prebiotically relevant ferricyanide (Fe(CN)₆^3-) molecules and cationic peptides. Their assembly into coacervates can be regulated by redox chemistry and the coacervates act as oxidizing hubs for sequestered metabolites, like NAD(P)H and gluthathione. Interestingly, the oxidizing potential of Fe(CN)₆^3- inside coacervates can be harnessed to drive the formation of new amide bonds

SUBMITTER: Wang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10739716 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature