title: Non-enzymatic aminoacylation of an RNA minihelix with an aminoacyl phosphate oligonucleotide.
abstract: Efficient aminoacylation of an RNA minihelix (a proposed precursor of tRNA) was achieved without any ribozymes or protein enzymes. The reaction was promoted with a template-like bridging Oligonucleotide and a 5'-aminoacyl-phosphate-oligonucleotide. Aminoacylation was template-dependent and showed high preference for a particular ribose hydroxyl. The 5'-aminoacyl-phosphate-oligonucleotides have the same adenylate linkage as in aminoacyl-AMP--the universal intermediate used in modern aminoacylation systems with aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Thus, the results raise the possibility that this kind of system could have played a role in the transition from the RNA world to the theatre of proteins.
authors.affiliation: The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schimmel
mesh_terms: D049148:Aminoacylation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D010710:Phosphates; D012313:RNA