dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaHomochirality in an early peptide world
| Authors | Axel Brandenburg, Harry J. Lehto, Kirsi M. Lehto |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0610051 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0610051 |
| DOI | 10.1089/ast.2006.0093 |
| Journal | Astrobiol. 7, 725-732 (2007) |
Abstract
A recently proposed model of non-autocatalytic reactions in dipeptide reactions leading to spontaneous symmetry breaking and homochirality is examined. The model is governed by activation, polymerization, epimerization and depolymerization of amino acids. Symmetry breaking is primarily a consequence of the fact that the rates of reactions involving homodimers and heterodimers are different, i.e., stereoselective, and on the fact that epimerization can only occur on the N-terminal residue and not on the Cterminal residue. This corresponds to an auto-inductive cyclic process that works only in one sense. It is argued that epimerization mimics both autocatalytic behavior as well as mutual antagonism - both of which were known to be crucial for producing full homochirality.
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"abstract": "A recently proposed model of non-autocatalytic reactions in dipeptide\nreactions leading to spontaneous symmetry breaking and homochirality is\nexamined. The model is governed by activation, polymerization, epimerization\nand depolymerization of amino acids. Symmetry breaking is primarily a\nconsequence of the fact that the rates of reactions involving homodimers and\nheterodimers are different, i.e., stereoselective, and on the fact that\nepimerization can only occur on the N-terminal residue and not on the Cterminal\nresidue. This corresponds to an auto-inductive cyclic process that works only\nin one sense. It is argued that epimerization mimics both autocatalytic\nbehavior as well as mutual antagonism - both of which were known to be crucial\nfor producing full homochirality.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0610051",
"authors": [
"Axel Brandenburg",
"Harry J. Lehto",
"Kirsi M. Lehto"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.BM"
],
"doi": "10.1089/ast.2006.0093",
"journal_ref": "Astrobiol. 7, 725-732 (2007)",
"title": "Homochirality in an early peptide world",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0610051"
},
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