1.
Mol Biol Evol
; 37(11): 3083-3093, 2020 11 01.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32521018
RESUMO
A challenging question in evolutionary theory is the origin of cell division and plausible molecular mechanisms involved. Here, we made the surprising observation that complexes formed by short alpha-helical peptides and oleic acid can create multiple membrane-enclosed spaces from a single lipid vesicle. The findings suggest that such complexes may contain the molecular information necessary to initiate and sustain this process. Based on these observations, we propose a new molecular model to understand protocell division.