Autocatalytic symmetry breaking and chiral amplification in a feedback network combining amino acid synthesis and ligation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Higgs, Paul G.; Blackmond, Donna G.
• 署名单位: McMaster University; Scripps Research Institute
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14294
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2423683122
• 发表日期: 2025-05-20
• 关键词: asymmetric autocatalysis; homochirality; origin

摘要

A kinetic model coupling prebiotically plausible synthesis of enantioenriched proteinogenic amino acids with catalytic peptide ligation leads to an autocatalytic network that may exhibit symmetry breaking and chiral amplification, providing a feasible route to the emergence of biological homochirality. We show that symmetry breaking leading to chiral amplification can occur in two ways: a constructive mechanism in which dimers catalyze the synthesis of monomers of the same enantiomer, and a destructive mechanism in which dimers catalyze the breakdown of monomers of the opposite enantiomer.