• Rutgers scientists identify substance th

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Fri Mar 10 21:30:28 2023
    Rutgers scientists identify substance that may have sparked life on
    Earth
    Research could provide clues to extraterrestrial life

    Date:
    March 10, 2023
    Source:
    Rutgers University
    Summary:
    A team of scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial
    origins of metabolism -- a set of core chemical reactions that
    first powered life on Earth -- has identified part of a protein
    that could provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the
    verge of producing life.


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    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A team of Rutgers scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial
    origins of metabolism -- a set of core chemical reactions that first
    powered life on Earth -- has identified part of a protein that could
    provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the verge of producing
    life.


    ==========================================================================
    The research, published in Science Advances, has important implications
    in the search for extraterrestrial life because it gives researchers a
    new clue to look for, said Vikas Nanda, a researcher at the Center for
    Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers.

    Based on laboratory studies, Rutgers scientists say one of the most likely chemical candidates that kickstarted life was a simple peptide with two
    nickel atoms they are calling "Nickelback" not because it has anything
    to do with the Canadian rock band, but because its backbone nitrogen
    atoms bond two critical nickel atoms. A peptide is a constituent of a
    protein made up of a few elemental building blocks known as amino acids.

    "Scientists believe that sometime between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago
    there was a tipping point, something that kickstarted the change from
    prebiotic chemistry -- molecules before life -- to living, biological
    systems," Nanda said. "We believe the change was sparked by a few small precursor proteins that performed key steps in an ancient metabolic
    reaction. And we think we've found one of these 'pioneer peptides'."
    The scientists conducting the study are part of a Rutgers-led team called Evolution of Nanomachines in Geospheres and Microbial Ancestors (ENIGMA),
    which is part of the Astrobiology program at NASA. The researchers are
    seeking to understand how proteins evolved to become the predominant
    catalyst of life on Earth.

    When scouring the universe with telescopes and probes for signs of
    past, present or emerging life, NASA scientists look for specific "biosignatures" known to be harbingers of life. Peptides like nickelback
    could become the latest biosignature employed by NASA to detect planets
    on the verge of producing life, Nanda said.

    An original instigating chemical, the researchers reasoned, would need
    to be simple enough to be able to assemble spontaneously in a prebiotic
    soup. But it would have to be sufficiently chemically active to possess
    the potential to take energy from the environment to drive a biochemical process.

    To do so, the researchers adopted a "reductionist" approach: They started
    by examining existing contemporary proteins known to be associated
    with metabolic processes. Knowing the proteins were too complex to have
    emerged early on, they pared them down to their basic structure.

    After sequences of experiments, researchers concluded the best candidate
    was Nickelback. The peptide is made of 13 amino acids and binds two
    nickel ions.

    Nickel, they reasoned, was an abundant metal in early oceans. When bound
    to the peptide, the nickel atoms become potent catalysts, attracting
    additional protons and electrons and producing hydrogen gas. Hydrogen,
    the researchers reasoned, was also more abundant on early Earth and
    would have been a critical source of energy to power metabolism.

    "This is important because, while there are many theories about the
    origins of life, there are very few actual laboratory tests of these
    ideas," Nanda said.

    "This work shows that, not only are simple protein metabolic enzymes
    possible, but that they are very stable and very active -- making them
    a plausible starting point for life."
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    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Original written
    by Kitta MacPherson.

    Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. , Jan A. Siess, Paul M. Molinaro, James J. McCann, Kate M. Waldie,
    Ronald
    L. Koder , Paul G. Falkowski, and Vikas Nanda. Design of a minimal
    di- nickel hydrogenase peptide. Science Advances, 2023 DOI:
    10.1126/ sciadv.abq1990 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230310143648.htm

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