title: Electrostatic Localization of RNA to Protocell Membranes by Cationic Hydrophobic Peptides.
abstract: Cooperative interactions between RNA and vesicle membranes on the prebiotic earth may have led to the emergence of primitive cells. The membrane surface offers a potential platform for the catalysis of reactions involving RNA, but this scenario relies upon the existence of a simple mechanism by which RNA could become associated with protocell membranes. Here, we show that electrostatic interactions provided by short, basic, amphipathic peptides can be harnessed to drive RNA binding to both zwitterionic phospholipid and anionic fatty acid membranes. We show that the association of cationic molecules with phospholipid vesicles can enhance the local positive charge on a membrane and attract RNA polynucleotides. This phenomenon can be reproduced with amphipathic peptides as short as three amino acids. Finally, we show that peptides can cross bilayer membranes to localize encapsulated RNA. This mechanism of polynucleotide confinement could have been important for primitive cellular evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114 (USA).
authors.forename: Neha P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Kamat
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114 (USA).|Ra Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA 02139 (USA).
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tobé
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114 (USA).|Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129 (USA).
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114 (USA). szostak@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Szostak
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010455:Peptides; D010743:Phospholipids; D012313:RNA
keywords: RNA; origin of life; peptides; protocells; vesicles