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Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

ABSTRACT: The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the 'threads' observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.

SUBMITTER: Singh SV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7730583 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

Singh Surendra V SV Vishakantaiah Jayaram J Meka Jaya K JK Sivaprahasam Vijayan V Chandrasekaran Vijayanand V Thombre Rebecca R Thiruvenkatam Vijay V Mallya Ambresh A Rajasekhar Balabhadrapatruni N BN Muruganantham Mariyappan M Datey Akshay A Hill Hugh H Bhardwaj Anil A Jagadeesh Gopalan G Reddy Kalidevapura P J KPJ Mason Nigel J NJ Sivaraman Bhalamurugan B

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) 20201130 23

The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to ...[more]

PMID: 33265981

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Project description:The unique physiochemical properties and multiscale organization of layered materials draw the attention of researchers across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Layered structures are commonly found in diverse biological systems where they fulfill various functions. A prominent example of layered biological materials is the organization of proteins and polypeptides into the archetypal aggregated amyloidal structures. While the organization of proteins into amyloid structures was initially associated with various degenerative disorders, it was later revealed that proteins not related to any disease could also form identical layered assemblies. Thus, it appears that the ability of peptides and proteins to produce amyloid-like aggregates represents a generic property of polyamides to assemble into higher order fibrillar structures. In the aggregated state, the peptide backbone forms ?-sheet structures which are further organized into layered arrangements. We have recently extended the identified amyloidogenic building blocks to include not only peptides or proteins, but also single amino acids and other metabolites. High resolution spectroscopy and crystallography analyses confirm the clear potential of amino acids and other metabolites to form layered amyloid-like aggregates showing biophysical and biochemical properties similar to protein amyloids. Therefore, the generic propensity of peptides and proteins backbones to assemble into layered organizations may emanate from their basic building block, the amino acid. In this Account, we aim to introduce the concept of supramolecular ?-sheet organization of single amino acids and to present an analysis of their layered-structure organization based on single crystal structures. We demonstrate that, despite the different side-chains that considerably vary in their chemical properties, all coded amino acids display a layer-like assembly stabilized by ?-amine to ?-carboxyl H-bonds, resembling supramolecular ?-sheet structures, while the side-chains determine the higher order organization of the layers. Our work presents the first analysis of the ?-sheet propensity of single amino acids in their unbound form, indicating an evolutionary predisposition. We classify the amino acids ?-sheet propensity on the basis of the interlayer separation distance in the crystal packing, which correlates well with previously reported classifications based on various criteria, such as hydrophobicity, steric bulkiness, and folding. In addition, we demonstrate that the relative direction of ?-amine to ?-carboxyl H-bonding pattern provides critical insights regarding the stabilization of parallel versus antiparallel ?-sheet structures by the various amino acids. Taken together, our analysis of amino acid crystals provides substantial information regarding protein folding and dynamics and could serve as basic rules set for the design of potential building blocks for molecular self-assembly to produce functional materials of tunable properties, an important objective of bottom-up nanotechnology.

Dataset Information

Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

Publications

Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

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