2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Verification of the functional role of coacervate droplets in in vitro RNA evolution
| Project/Area Number |
18K14354
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 37030:Chemical biology-related
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
JIA Tony Z 東京工業大学, 地球生命研究所, 特任助教 (10800328)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Origins of Life / Protocells / Coacervates / Astrobiology / Prebiotic Chemistry / Chemical Evolution / Polyesters / Biopolymers |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This research project helped to increase understanding of membraneless droplets as protocell models. We first studied the structural evolution of DNA-peptide coacervates, which resulted in co-assembly of liquid crystal structures within the coacervates; this DNA-based work shows the importance of RNA to in vitro structural evolution of coacervates.
We next learned that peptide-nucleic acid droplets are not the only relevant membraneless protocell model, as we showed that polyester protocells can segregate important biomolecules such as proteins, RNA, and lipids. RNA ribozymes can function in the presence of the polyester protocells, which suggests that in vitro RNA evolution could occur within the droplets. We also found that polyester protocells can evolve chemically through introduction of cationic groups; the cationic groups interact strongly with RNA, allowing more RNA segregation, further suggesting the possibility of in-protocell in vitro RNA evolution.
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| Free Research Field |
Astrobiology
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
We discovered and developed a new membraneless protocell model generated from liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) made from polyester microdroplets. This new protocell model will significantly enhance our understanding of the origins of life, and will lead to new research directions in the future.
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