Incorporation of Basic α-Hydroxy Acid Residues into Primitive Polyester Microdroplets for RNA Segregation
Incorporation of Basic α-Hydroxy Acid Residues into Primitive Polyester Microdroplets for RNA Segregation
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DOI：
10.1021/acs.biomac.0c01697
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发表时间：
2021-03-05
影响因子：
6.2
通讯作者：
Chandru, Kuhan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jia, Tony Z.;Bapat, Niraja, V;Chandru, Kuhan
核酸分离和区划可能是原始隔室系统在进化过程中解决的重要功能。最近，各种α-羟基酸(α-HA)的脱水合成生成的聚酯微滴被认为是潜在的原始区。其中一些液滴可以不同地分离和分隔有机染料、蛋白质和核酸。然而，以前研究的聚酯微滴包含有限的α-HA化学多样性，这可能不能反映原始地球环境中可用的化学多样性。在这里，我们通过组合加入带有碱性侧链的α-HA单体4-氨基-2-羟基丁酸(4a2H)来增加聚酯微滴体系的化学多样性，该单体与不同比例的其他含有不带电荷侧链的α-HA通过脱水合成形成组合杂多酯。在聚合物中掺入4a2h后，可以组装一些能够分离荧光RNA或潜在地获得固有荧光特征的聚酯微滴，这表明对聚酯组成的微小修改可以显著影响原始隔室的功能特性。这项研究提出了一种过程，通过这种过程，原始化学系统可以通过对其化学成分进行简单的修改来增加隔室“表型”的多样性。
Nucleic acid segregation and compartmentalization were likely essential functions that primitive compartment systems resolved during evolution. Recently, polyester microdroplets generated from dehydration synthesis of various alpha-hydroxy acids (alpha HA) were suggested as potential primitive compartments. Some of these droplets can differentially segregate and compartmentalize organic dyes, proteins, and nucleic acids. However, the previously studied polyester microdroplets included limited alpha HA chemical diversity, which may not reflect the chemical diversity available in the primitive Earth environment. Here, we increased the chemical diversity of polyester microdroplet systems by combinatorially adding an alpha HA monomer with a basic side chain, 4-amino-2-hydroxybutyric acid (4a2h), which was incorporated with different ratios of other alpha HAs containing uncharged side chains to form combinatorial heteropolyesters via dehydration synthesis. Incorporation of 4a2h in the polymers resulted in the assembly of some polyester microdroplets able to segregate fluorescent RNA or potentially acquire intrinsic fluorescent character, suggesting that minor modifications of polyester composition can significantly impact the functional properties of primitive compartments. This study suggests one process by which primitive chemical systems can increase diversity of compartment "phenotype" through simple modifications in their chemical composition.