Towards an RNA/Peptides World by the Direct RNA Template Mechanism: The Emergence of Membrane-Stabilizing Peptides in RNA-Based Protocells.

ABSTRACT: How functional peptides may have arisen is a significant problem for the scenario of the RNA world. An attractive idea, the direct RNA template (DRT) hypothesis, proposes that RNA molecules can bind amino acids specifically and promote the synthesis of corresponding peptides, thereby starting the RNA/peptides world. To investigate the plausibility of this idea, we modeled the emergence of a "membrane-stabilizing peptide" in RNA-based protocells-such a peptide was suggested to have appeared early in the RNA world based on experimental evidence. The computer simulation demonstrated that the protocells containing the "RNA gene" encoding this peptide may spread in the system owing to the peptide's function. The RNA gene may either originate de novo in protocells or emerge in protocells already

SUBMITTER: Shi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9966593 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature