Differential Oligomerization of Alpha versus Beta Amino Acids and Hydroxy Acids in Abiotic Proto-Peptide Synthesis Reactions.

ABSTRACT: The origin of biopolymers is a central question in origins of life research. In extant life, proteins are coded linear polymers made of a fixed set of twenty alpha-L-amino acids. It is likely that the prebiotic forerunners of proteins, or protopeptides, were more heterogenous polymers with a greater diversity of building blocks and linkage stereochemistry. To investigate a possible chemical selection for alpha versus beta amino acids in abiotic polymerization reactions, we subjected mixtures of alpha and beta hydroxy and amino acids to single-step dry-down or wet-dry cycling conditions. The resulting model protopeptide mixtures were analyzed by a variety of analytical techniques, including mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. We observed that amino acids typically exhibited a higher ext

SUBMITTER: Frenkel-Pinter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8876357 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature