UV-light-driven prebiotic synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters
| Autor: | Lin Jin, Simone Scintilla, Sheref S. Mansy, Claudia Bonfio, John D. Sutherland, David J. Evans, Luca Valer, Dimitar Sasselov, Sachin N. Shah, Jack W. Szostak |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Iron-Sulfur Proteins
inorganic chemicals 0301 basic medicine chemistry.chemical_classification Protocell Evolution Chemical Sulfide Ultraviolet Rays General Chemical Engineering Origin of Life Photodissociation Inorganic chemistry chemistry.chemical_element General Chemistry Photochemistry Early Earth Sulfur Ferrous 03 medical and health sciences 030104 developmental biology chemistry Abiogenesis Metalloprotein |
| Popis: | Iron-sulfur clusters are ancient cofactors that play a fundamental role in metabolism and may have impacted the prebiotic chemistry that led to life. However, it is unclear whether iron-sulfur clusters could have been synthesized on prebiotic Earth. Dissolved iron on early Earth was predominantly in the reduced ferrous state, but ferrous ions alone cannot form polynuclear iron-sulfur clusters. Similarly, free sulfide may not have been readily available. Here we show that UV light drives the synthesis of [2Fe-2S] and [4Fe-4S] clusters through the photooxidation of ferrous ions and the photolysis of organic thiols. Iron-sulfur clusters coordinate to and are stabilized by a wide range of cysteine-containing peptides and the assembly of iron-sulfur cluster-peptide complexes can take place within model protocells in a process that parallels extant pathways. Our experiments suggest that iron-sulfur clusters may have formed easily on early Earth, facilitating the emergence of an iron-sulfur-cluster-dependent metabolism. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|