Coenzymes and their role in the evolution of Life.

Coenzymes and their role in the evolution of Life. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jan 16;: Authors: Kirschning A Abstract The evolution of coenzymes, or the impact of coenzymes on the origin of Life, is fundamental for understanding our own existence and yet, this topic is rarely discussed in contemporary science. Coenzymes are small molecules that occupy an elementary role with respect to chemical reactivity and selectivity when associated with a macromolecular template. They are essential for functional biocatalysis in all living organisms and act as currency to regulate many basic metabolic processes. Having established reasonable hypotheses about the emergence of prebiotic chemical building blocks, which were probably created under palaeogeochemical conditions, and surmising that these smaller compounds must have become integrated to afford complex macromolecules such as RNA, the question of coenzyme origin and its relation to the evolution of functional biochemistry should gain new impetus. Many coenzymes have a simple chemical structure and are often nucleotide-derived, which suggests that they may have co-existed with the emergence of RNA and may have played a pivotal role in early metabolism. Based on current theories of prebiotic evolution, which attempt to explain the emergence of privileged organic building blocks, this review discusses plausible hypotheses on the prebiotic formation of key elements within selected extant co...
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl Source Type: research