Nonenzymatic Polymerization into Long Linear RNA Templated by Liquid Crystal Self-Assembly.
ACS Nano
; 12(10): 9750-9762, 2018 10 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30280566
ABSTRACT
Self-synthesizing materials, in which supramolecular structuring enhances the formation of new molecules that participate to the process, represent an intriguing notion to account for the first appearance of biomolecules in an abiotic Earth. We present here a study of the abiotic formation of interchain phosphodiester bonds in solutions of short RNA oligomers in various states of supramolecular arrangement and their reaction kinetics. We found a spectrum of conditions in which RNA oligomers self-assemble and phase separate into highly concentrated ordered fluid liquid crystal (LC) microdomains. We show that such supramolecular state provides a template guiding their ligation into hundred-bases long chains. The quantitative analysis presented here demonstrates that nucleic acid LC boosts the rate of end-to-end ligation and suppresses the formation of the otherwise dominant cyclic oligomers. These results strengthen the concept of supramolecular ordering as an efficient pathway toward the emergence of the RNA World in the primordial Earth.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
RNA
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Cristais Líquidos
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article