Self-Replicating Nucleic Acids

自我复制核酸

• 批准号: 0809413
• 负责人: Jack Szostak
• 金额: $ 54万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts General Hospital
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0809413&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Self; Replicating; Nucleic; Acids

This project will continue work on the chemical synthesis of polymers that can both carry information in their sequence and replicate that information chemically without using enzymes. These experiments are inspired by the desire to understand the emergence of information carrying molecules such as RNA during the origin of life on earth. Basic chemical principles are used to design simple variants of RNA and DNA that may be capable of chemical replication, such as a family of nucleic acids in which the hydroxyl nucleophile is replaced with an amino group, which is a stronger nucleophile. This change, coupled with the use of more active leaving groups as well as nucleobases that enhance duplex stability, should lead to faster chemical copying of template sequences. The project will also explore ways in which replication may be accelerated through the use of simple catalysts, or through localization to mineral surfaces or membrane vesicles. With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program and the Genes and Genome Systems Cluster program are supporting the research of Professor Jack W. Szostak of the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Professor Szostak's research is aimed at understanding the origin of life on the early earth, a topic that has always attracted great public interest. Because this work explores the connection between chemistry and biology at a very fundamental level, it is also of great interest to students, and will help to attract young people to the chemical sciences.

该项目将继续研究聚合物的化学合成，这些聚合物既可以在其序列中携带信息，又可以在不使用酶的情况下化学复制该信息。 这些实验的灵感来自于对理解地球生命起源期间携带信息的分子（如RNA）的出现的渴望。 基本的化学原理被用来设计RNA和DNA的简单变体，这些变体可能能够进行化学复制，例如一个核酸家族，其中羟基亲核试剂被氨基取代，这是一个更强的亲核试剂。 这种变化，加上使用更活跃的离去基团以及增强双链体稳定性的核碱基，应该会导致模板序列的更快化学复制。该项目还将探索通过使用简单的催化剂或通过定位到矿物表面或膜囊泡来加速复制的方法。 有了这个奖项，有机和高分子化学计划和基因和基因组系统集群计划正在支持杰克W教授的研究。马萨诸塞州总医院分子生物学系的Szostak博士说。 绍斯塔克教授的研究旨在了解早期地球上生命的起源，这是一个一直吸引公众极大兴趣的话题。 由于这项工作在非常基础的层面上探索了化学和生物学之间的联系，因此学生们也非常感兴趣，并将有助于吸引年轻人进入化学科学。