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Biomolecules
Volume 12
Issue 4
10.3390/biom12040555
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Article

Did Homocysteine Take Part in the Start of the Synthesis of Peptides on the Early Earth?

by
Sparta Youssef-Saliba
,
Anne Milet
and
Yannick Vallée
*
University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, DCM, F-38058 Grenoble, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biomolecules 2022, 12(4), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040555
Submission received: 22 March 2022 / Revised: 4 April 2022 / Accepted: 6 April 2022 / Published: 8 April 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Homocysteine: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Role in Disease 2021)
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Abstract

Unlike its shorter analog, cysteine, and its methylated derivative, methionine, homocysteine is not today a proteinogenic amino acid. However, this thiol containing amino acid is capable of forming an activated species intramolecularly. Its thiolactone could have made it an interesting molecular building block at the origin of life on Earth. Here we study the cyclization of homocysteine in water and show theoretically and experimentally that in an acidic medium the proportion of thiolactone is significant. This thiolactone easily reacts with amino acids to form dipeptides. We envision that these reactions may help interpret why a methionine residue is introduced at the start of all protein synthesis.
Keywords: prebiotic chemistry; abiogenesis; homocysteine; thiolactone; peptides prebiotic chemistry; abiogenesis; homocysteine; thiolactone; peptides
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MDPI and ACS Style

Youssef-Saliba, S.; Milet, A.; Vallée, Y. Did Homocysteine Take Part in the Start of the Synthesis of Peptides on the Early Earth? Biomolecules 2022, 12, 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040555

AMA Style

Youssef-Saliba S, Milet A, Vallée Y. Did Homocysteine Take Part in the Start of the Synthesis of Peptides on the Early Earth? Biomolecules. 2022; 12(4):555. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040555

Chicago/Turabian Style

Youssef-Saliba, Sparta, Anne Milet, and Yannick Vallée. 2022. "Did Homocysteine Take Part in the Start of the Synthesis of Peptides on the Early Earth?" Biomolecules 12, no. 4: 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040555

APA Style

Youssef-Saliba, S., Milet, A., & Vallée, Y. (2022). Did Homocysteine Take Part in the Start of the Synthesis of Peptides on the Early Earth? Biomolecules, 12(4), 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040555

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