Adenosine monophosphate forms ordered arrays in multilamellar lipid matrices: insights into assembly of nucleic acid for primitive life

A fundamental question of biology is how nucleic acids first assembled and then were incorporated into the earliest forms of cellular life 4 billion years ago. The polymerization of nucleotides is a condensation reaction in which phosphodiester bonds are formed. This reaction cannot occur in aqueous...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-05, Vol.8 (5), p.e62810-e62810
Main Authors: Toppozini, Laura, Dies, Hannah, Deamer, David W, Rheinstädter, Maikel C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adenosine
Adenosine monophosphate
Adenosine Monophosphate - chemistry
Adenosine Monophosphate - metabolism
AMP
Astronomy
Biology
Chemical bonds
Chemical synthesis
Condensation
Condensation polymerization
Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine
DNA - chemistry
DNA - metabolism
Enzymes
Hydration
Lipid Bilayers - chemistry
Lipid Bilayers - metabolism
Lipids
Membranes
Models, Molecular
Molecular Conformation
Monosaccharides
Nucleic acids
Nucleotides
Oligomers
Phase transitions
Phosphates
Phosphates - metabolism
Phosphodiester bonds
Phospholipids
Phospholipids - chemistry
Phospholipids - metabolism
Physics
Polymerization
Polymers
Prebiotics
Ribonucleic acid
Ribose
Ribose - metabolism
RNA
RNA - chemistry
RNA - metabolism
Studies
X-ray scattering
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Summary:A fundamental question of biology is how nucleic acids first assembled and then were incorporated into the earliest forms of cellular life 4 billion years ago. The polymerization of nucleotides is a condensation reaction in which phosphodiester bonds are formed. This reaction cannot occur in aqueous solutions, but guided polymerization in an anhydrous lipid environment could promote a non-enzymatic condensation reaction in which oligomers of single stranded nucleic acids are synthesized. We used X-ray scattering to investigate 5'-adenosine monophosphate (AMP) molecules captured in a multilamellar phospholipid matrix composed of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine. Bragg peaks corresponding to the lateral organization of the confined AMP molecules were observed. Instead of forming a random array, the AMP molecules are highly entangled, with the phosphate and ribose groups in close proximity. This structure may facilitate polymerization of the nucleotides into RNA-like polymers.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0062810