New thoughts on the evolution of hormone-receptor systems.
A possible pathway of the evolution of hormone-receptor systems has been discussed in light of the genomic potential hypothesis. Unlike the Darwinian system which is based on uninvestigatable chance events, the genomic potential hypothesis offers predictions based upon chemical determinism (boundary determinism). Accordingly, the production of highly specific protein-protein interactions between receptors and hormones, for example, are based upon the development of interacting components before the primordial chemistry was segregated by membranes. It is proposed that in addition to the primary structure (coding activity) a higher level of information exists in the genome which caused genomic products to function in a complementary fashion in living systems. The first steps in that direction have already been taken via experiments on sense and antisense peptides which may have specific relationships to each other. It is clear that I have not given an answer but I hope that I have touched upon certain aspects of a problem that can be illuminated better by a new and different approach to evolution. The hormone-receptor development was probably a powerful formative force in the development of macroorganisms, and its baffling complexity can only begin to find an explanation on the basis of structure/function relationships of the encoding material and its products.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Schwabe
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425.
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics
D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface