Premium
The Systems Chemistry of Nucleic‐acid‐Peptide Networks
Author(s) -
Kumar Bandela Anil,
SadihovHanoch Hava,
CohenLuria Rivka,
Gordon Christella,
Blake Alexis,
Poppitz George,
Lynn David G.,
Ashkenasy Gonen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.202200030
Subject(s) - chemistry , supramolecular chemistry , nucleic acid , nanotechnology , extant taxon , computational biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , materials science , evolutionary biology , biology , crystal structure
Living cells use chemical building blocks (biopolymers) to form fascinatingly complex architectures, which in turn display multiple functions necessary for the cell life cycle. The mechanisms and order of events by which forerunners of these extant biopolymers formed on the early earth remains under intensive investigation. Prebiotic chemistry research has recently provided ample evidence that both peptide and nucleic‐acid (NA) precursors could be formed in a primordial environment through common synthetic routes. However, until recently, studies directed at the design of functional supramolecular structures have focused primarily on assemblies made of either peptides or NAs. The emerging discipline of Systems Chemistry now develops dynamic supramolecular interactions to capture the complex emergent properties of reaction networks. Accordingly, we review here recent work that reveals mutualistic nucleic acid/peptide co‐assembly, and approaches toward utility of these architectures as functional materials capable of substrate binding, catalysis, replication, and translation. Many of these new approaches to smart soft biomaterials and functional bio‐nanotechnology provide insight and extend our understanding of the possible origins of living systems.