德国斯图加特大学Clemens Richert团队的一项最新研究通过单核苷酸碱基互补配对开发出不需要核糖体的翻译过程。2021年7月26日出版的《自然·化学》发表了这项成果。

研究小组证明，在0°C的稀水溶液中，在RNA模板的核苷酸序列引导下，携带氨基酸的单核苷酸与连接在RNA引物5‘端的氨基酸可发生偶联。当U-Val、A-gly和G-Leu的混合物争相与Gly-RNA偶联时，碱基配对决定了哪个二肽序列优先形成。由此产生的双锚定二肽可以保留其与引物的连接以进一步延伸，也可以在温和的酸性条件下完全释放。

这些结果表明，以单核苷酸为基础、只需要寡核苷酸和锚定氨基酸的翻译形式是存在的。

据了解，根据遗传密码子将信使RNA序列翻译成多肽序列是生命的核心。然而目前还不清楚，这一现今依赖核糖体机器的过程是如何从更简单的前体发展而来的。

附：英文原文

Title: Single nucleotide translation without ribosomes

Author: Biswarup Jash, Peter Tremmel, Dejana Jovanovic, Clemens Richert

Issue&Volume: 2021-07-26

Abstract: The translation of messenger RNA sequences into polypeptide sequences according to the genetic code is central to life. How this process, which relies on the ribosomal machinery, arose from much simpler precursors is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that single nucleotides charged with an amino acid couple with amino acids linked to the 5′-terminus of an RNA primer in reactions directed by the nucleotides of an RNA template in dilute aqueous solution at 0°C. When a mixture of U-Val, A-Gly and G-Leu competed for coupling to Gly-RNA, base pairing dictated which dipeptide sequence formed preferentially. The resulting doubly anchored dipeptides can retain their link to the primer for further extension or can be fully released under mild acidic conditions. These results show that a single-nucleotide-based form of translation exists that requires no more than oligoribonucleotides and anchored amino acids.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-021-00749-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-021-00749-4