![]() Bottom: membranes in a solution of magnesium chloride and serine, an amino acid, which triggers membranes to form multiple layers of concentric membranes. Top: membranes in a solution of magnesium chloride, a salt that disrupts membranes, and no amino acids. Images of membranes (circles) taken using transmission electron cryomicroscopy. The team previously showed that the building blocks of RNA preferentially attach to fatty acid membranes and, surprisingly, also stabilize the fragile membranes against detrimental effects of salt, a common compound on Earth past and present. ![]() Roy had the insight that local concentrations of molecules could be enhanced by a similar mechanism.” “If you line one surface inside the box with Velcro, then only the tennis balls will stick to that surface, and they will end up close together. “You can imagine different types of molecules moving within the primordial soup as fuzzy tennis balls and hard squash balls bouncing around in a big box that is being shaken,” said Keller, who is also co-corresponding author on the paper. Black had been inspired by the observation that fatty acid molecules can self-assemble to form membranes, and hypothesized that these membranes could act as a favorable surface to assemble the building blocks of RNA and proteins. “The assumption was just that - somehow - they did come together.”īlack came to the UW after a career at Amgen for the opportunity to fill in the crucial, missing details behind that “somehow.” He teamed up with Sarah Keller, a UW professor of chemistry and an expert on membranes. “Cells are made up of very different types of structures with totally different types of building blocks, and it has never been clear why they would come together in a functional way,” said co-corresponding author Roy Black, a UW affiliate professor of chemistry and bioengineering. They also demonstrate how the individual building blocks of cellular structures - membranes, proteins and RNA - could have co-localized within watery environments on the ancient Earth. 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, go beyond explaining how amino acids could have stabilized membranes in unfavorable environments. Bottom: membranes in a solution containing serine, an amino acid, which triggers membranes to form multiple layers of concentric membranes. Top: membranes in a solution that contains no amino acids.
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