TL;DR: It is shown that activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides can be formed in a short sequence that bypasses free ribose and the nucleobases, and instead proceeds through arabinose amino-oxazoline and anhydronucleoside intermediates.
Abstract: At some stage in the origin of life, an informational polymer must have arisen by purely chemical means. According to one version of the 'RNA world' hypothesis this polymer was RNA, but attempts to provide experimental support for this have failed. In particular, although there has been some success demonstrating that 'activated' ribonucleotides can polymerize to form RNA, it is far from obvious how such ribonucleotides could have formed from their constituent parts (ribose and nucleobases). Ribose is difficult to form selectively, and the addition of nucleobases to ribose is inefficient in the case of purines and does not occur at all in the case of the canonical pyrimidines. Here we show that activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides can be formed in a short sequence that bypasses free ribose and the nucleobases, and instead proceeds through arabinose amino-oxazoline and anhydronucleoside intermediates. The starting materials for the synthesis-cyanamide, cyanoacetylene, glycolaldehyde, glyceraldehyde and inorganic phosphate-are plausible prebiotic feedstock molecules, and the conditions of the synthesis are consistent with potential early-Earth geochemical models. Although inorganic phosphate is only incorporated into the nucleotides at a late stage of the sequence, its presence from the start is essential as it controls three reactions in the earlier stages by acting as a general acid/base catalyst, a nucleophilic catalyst, a pH buffer and a chemical buffer. For prebiotic reaction sequences, our results highlight the importance of working with mixed chemical systems in which reactants for a particular reaction step can also control other steps.
TL;DR: The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a fundamental component of cellular metabolism as discussed by the authors, which shares reactions with the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and the Calvin cycle and divides into an oxidative and non-oxidative branch.
Abstract: The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a fundamental component of cellular metabolism. The PPP is important to maintain carbon homoeostasis, to provide precursors for nucleotide and amino acid biosynthesis, to provide reducing molecules for anabolism, and to defeat oxidative stress. The PPP shares reactions with the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and Calvin cycle and divides into an oxidative and non-oxidative branch. The oxidative branch is highly active in most eukaryotes and converts glucose 6-phosphate into carbon dioxide, ribulose 5-phosphate and NADPH. The latter function is critical to maintain redox balance under stress situations, when cells proliferate rapidly, in ageing, and for the 'Warburg effect' of cancer cells. The non-oxidative branch instead is virtually ubiquitous, and metabolizes the glycolytic intermediates fructose 6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate as well as sedoheptulose sugars, yielding ribose 5-phosphate for the synthesis of nucleic acids and sugar phosphate precursors for the synthesis of amino acids. Whereas the oxidative PPP is considered unidirectional, the non-oxidative branch can supply glycolysis with intermediates derived from ribose 5-phosphate and vice versa, depending on the biochemical demand. These functions require dynamic regulation of the PPP pathway that is achieved through hierarchical interactions between transcriptome, proteome and metabolome. Consequently, the biochemistry and regulation of this pathway, while still unresolved in many cases, are archetypal for the dynamics of the metabolic network of the cell. In this comprehensive article we review seminal work that led to the discovery and description of the pathway that date back now for 80 years, and address recent results about genetic and metabolic mechanisms that regulate its activity. These biochemical principles are discussed in the context of PPP deficiencies causing metabolic disease and the role of this pathway in biotechnology, bacterial and parasite infections, neurons, stem cell potency and cancer metabolism.
TL;DR: The unexpected discovery of pentose-mediated protein cross-linking raises new questions concerning the aging process and suggests ribose or ribonucleotide metabolites as precursors.
TL;DR: Evidence for an “RNA world,” an episode of life on Earth during which RNA was the only genetically encoded component of biological catalysts, is found in the ribosome, catalytic RNA molecules, and contemporary metabolism.
Abstract: Evidence for an “RNA world,” an episode of life on Earth during which RNA was the only genetically encoded component of biological catalysts, is found in the ribosome ([ 1 ][1]), catalytic RNA molecules ([ 2 ][2]), and contemporary metabolism ([ 3 ][3]). That RNA could form spontaneously and
TL;DR: This chapter analyzes poly(ADp-ribose) and ADP-ribosylation of proteins, a novel type of covalent modification of proteins that is implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation, protein synthesis, and DNA as well as RNA metabolism.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes poly(ADP-ribose) and ADP-ribosylation of proteins. Poly(ADP-ribose) and the ADP-ribosylation of proteins constitute a novel type of covalent modification of proteins. They are ubiquitously distributed in nature and are implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation, protein synthesis, and DNA as well as RNA metabolism. This type of post-translational modification is unique because NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, whose primary function is an electron carrier in biological oxidation, invariably provides the ADP-ribosyl moiety, which is transferred on to a protein molecule. The ADP-ribosyl unit thus, covalently attached to a protein acceptor is present as either a monomer or a polymer as in the case of the nuclear system. This chapter also summarizes developments in this field of research and some experimental results. It reviews briefly, mono ADP-ribosylation of proteins, in which only a single ADP-ribosyl moiety is transferred to a protein acceptor. It also covers a more complex reaction, poly(ADP-ribose) in nuclei, in which the ADP-ribosyl units are polymerized.