The terpenoid theory of the origin of cellular life: the evolution of terpenoids to cholesterol.
Terpenoids have an apparently essential function in modern cellular membranes, reinforcing them against shear stresses. Primitive membranes could initially have been formed by simple terpenoids, and vesicles formed from these membranes may have evolved into progressively more complex units, more and more similar to protocells.
Ourisson
G
G
Laboratoire de Chimie Organique des Substances Naturelles CNRS, Université Louis Pasteur, Centre de Neurochimie, Strasbourg, France.
Nakatani
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013729:Terpenes / Q000378:metabolism*
D013729:Terpenes; D002784:Cholesterol