1 00:00:00,260 --> 00:00:10,410 [Music] 2 00:00:17,050 --> 00:00:13,930 I'm David I'm a prebiotic chemist 3 00:00:20,230 --> 00:00:17,060 really more of an organic chemist and in 4 00:00:22,090 --> 00:00:20,240 Becky's introduction talk she reviewed 5 00:00:24,370 --> 00:00:22,100 chemical structures to you so I hope you 6 00:00:25,570 --> 00:00:24,380 uh I hope you got that because it's 7 00:00:29,050 --> 00:00:25,580 otherwise it's gonna be a little rough 8 00:00:31,660 --> 00:00:29,060 ride but here we go alright so 9 00:00:33,610 --> 00:00:31,670 fundamentally life is a chemical 10 00:00:35,229 --> 00:00:33,620 phenomenon I don't mean to be 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:35,239 patronizing with this I just want to 12 00:00:40,810 --> 00:00:38,690 highlight that you know you can see a 13 00:00:42,489 --> 00:00:40,820 schematic of DNA but it really does have 14 00:00:43,869 --> 00:00:42,499 fine chemical structure and that fine 15 00:00:48,009 --> 00:00:43,879 chemical structure is important for 16 00:00:49,509 --> 00:00:48,019 elucidating the origin of life so you 17 00:00:52,469 --> 00:00:49,519 know in experiments like the miller-urey 18 00:00:55,439 --> 00:00:52,479 experiment which we're all familiar with 19 00:00:59,169 --> 00:00:55,449 typically the thing that you find are 20 00:01:02,379 --> 00:00:59,179 amino acids so for example the you know 21 00:01:03,729 --> 00:01:02,389 the constituents of a protein but if 22 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:03,739 what we're trying to figure out is how 23 00:01:07,330 --> 00:01:05,510 another class of biomolecules the 24 00:01:08,860 --> 00:01:07,340 nucleic acids came into existence the 25 00:01:12,070 --> 00:01:08,870 monomers of nucleic acids are 26 00:01:15,070 --> 00:01:12,080 comparatively more complex so compare an 27 00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:15,080 isolated amino acid to an isolated 28 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:16,790 nucleotide and clearly the nucleotide is 29 00:01:22,890 --> 00:01:18,530 larger and more difficult to assemble 30 00:01:26,020 --> 00:01:22,900 the prebiotic we plausible manner so 31 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:26,030 before I jump right into my chemistry I 32 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:28,010 wanted to give you a little bit of an 33 00:01:32,470 --> 00:01:29,990 overview of how biology works today 34 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:32,480 because that's how we are informed of 35 00:01:38,110 --> 00:01:33,770 what molecules to target in our 36 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:38,120 prebiotic synthesis so DNA another 37 00:01:42,490 --> 00:01:40,850 schematic DNA is the hereditary molecule 38 00:01:48,330 --> 00:01:42,500 of all life with the exception of some 39 00:01:51,790 --> 00:01:48,340 viruses DNA is transcribed by a protein 40 00:01:54,430 --> 00:01:51,800 into an RNA message and then that RNA is 41 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:54,440 translated by an enzyme called the 42 00:01:59,190 --> 00:01:56,570 ribosome which emphatically is not 43 00:02:02,800 --> 00:01:59,200 protein based it's RNA based and that 44 00:02:05,380 --> 00:02:02,810 gives you proteins but you require 45 00:02:07,899 --> 00:02:05,390 proteins in order for DNA to replicate 46 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:07,909 itself so because of this we have a 47 00:02:12,220 --> 00:02:09,530 chicken and egg problem right we need 48 00:02:13,750 --> 00:02:12,230 proteins for DNA and we need DNA to code 49 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:13,760 for protein so how do we get out of that 50 00:02:18,190 --> 00:02:17,210 cycle well there's there's a clue here 51 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:18,200 in the central dogma of molecular 52 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:19,250 biology 53 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:23,570 which is RNA RNA in the central dogma 54 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:26,210 fills two different roles one of them is 55 00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:28,610 informational in the form of messenger 56 00:02:32,050 --> 00:02:30,500 RNA and the other one is catalytic in 57 00:02:35,740 --> 00:02:32,060 the form of the ribosome which itself is 58 00:02:37,900 --> 00:02:35,750 a ribozyme of an RNA enzyme so since RNA 59 00:02:39,940 --> 00:02:37,910 has the capability to perform both these 60 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:39,950 functions which today are mostly 61 00:02:44,020 --> 00:02:42,530 partitioned between DNA and protein it's 62 00:02:47,590 --> 00:02:44,030 thought that RNA played a really 63 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:47,600 critical role at or close to the origin 64 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:51,370 of life all right so that leads to this 65 00:02:56,620 --> 00:02:53,510 popular idea called the RNA world 66 00:02:58,600 --> 00:02:56,630 hypothesis which is but before I get 67 00:03:00,580 --> 00:02:58,610 into that I want to explain to you 68 00:03:02,890 --> 00:03:00,590 exactly what RNA is and how its distinct 69 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:02,900 from DNA so here's that schematic again 70 00:03:07,900 --> 00:03:05,450 and here's the fine structure again RNA 71 00:03:10,830 --> 00:03:07,910 is very similar so if you look at DNA 72 00:03:14,770 --> 00:03:10,840 you have this phosphate deoxyribose 73 00:03:17,199 --> 00:03:14,780 backbone with the nucleobases here RNA 74 00:03:20,199 --> 00:03:17,209 is similar but there are just a few 75 00:03:22,990 --> 00:03:20,209 modifications so in DNA we have the 76 00:03:26,199 --> 00:03:23,000 nucleobases I mean and in RNA we have 77 00:03:28,030 --> 00:03:26,209 the perhaps more perhaps simpler 78 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:28,040 nucleobase uracil which pairs with 79 00:03:35,550 --> 00:03:32,780 adenine DNA has a hydrogen atom here 80 00:03:38,170 --> 00:03:35,560 where RNA has a hydroxyl group now 81 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:38,180 superficially that might seem to make 82 00:03:43,420 --> 00:03:40,850 RNA more complicated but actually that 83 00:03:45,810 --> 00:03:43,430 hydroxyl group is easier to produce in a 84 00:03:51,009 --> 00:03:45,820 prebiotic ly plausible manner than the 85 00:03:52,810 --> 00:03:51,019 deoxyribose of DNA and that those small 86 00:03:57,190 --> 00:03:52,820 modifications have profound consequences 87 00:03:59,680 --> 00:03:57,200 in what RNA and DNA are able to do so 88 00:04:01,150 --> 00:03:59,690 DNA is optimized for information storage 89 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:01,160 and transfer RNA can perform that 90 00:04:05,650 --> 00:04:02,510 function too but because of this 91 00:04:07,990 --> 00:04:05,660 hydroxyl group there is a change in the 92 00:04:09,819 --> 00:04:08,000 bulk structure of RNA which allows it to 93 00:04:13,569 --> 00:04:09,829 more readily access catalytically active 94 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:13,579 structures all right so now we're at the 95 00:04:17,469 --> 00:04:15,530 RNA world hypothesis which is the idea 96 00:04:19,330 --> 00:04:17,479 that before the DNA protein based 97 00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:19,340 biochemistry of today we had a 98 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:20,630 biochemistry that was predominantly 99 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:24,770 based on RNA I just want to really 100 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:27,710 quickly note that there that idea as 101 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:29,780 I've just stated it has been contested 102 00:04:32,530 --> 00:04:31,849 of it lately but let's just stay within 103 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:32,540 that paradigm 104 00:04:39,510 --> 00:04:36,590 for now and I'm gonna give you a 105 00:04:42,580 --> 00:04:39,520 historical perspective on how it's been 106 00:04:45,790 --> 00:04:42,590 investigated so what we want to get to 107 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:45,800 is this polymer RNA the traditional 108 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:47,690 approach has been to start from simple 109 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:49,850 prebiotic precursors sorry there's a 110 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:53,570 little bit of feedback historical 111 00:04:57,820 --> 00:04:55,370 approach has been to start from simple 112 00:05:00,940 --> 00:04:57,830 prebiotic precursors and build your way 113 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:00,950 up to the polymer now if you draw it 114 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:02,450 like this it looks pretty reasonable 115 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:04,610 right and this is maybe you've heard of 116 00:05:08,710 --> 00:05:07,250 the term paper chemistry it's it's you 117 00:05:10,870 --> 00:05:08,720 can draw it on paper and it looks really 118 00:05:13,510 --> 00:05:10,880 pretty but it's completely wrought with 119 00:05:16,510 --> 00:05:13,520 issues so for example if we want to get 120 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:16,520 the sugar ribose exclusively that's a 121 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:18,230 big problem because the chemical 122 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:19,850 reaction that's typically invoked in 123 00:05:25,810 --> 00:05:23,990 order to produce sugars in a prebiotic 124 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:25,820 we plausible manner is totally non 125 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:27,290 selective and produces a variety of 126 00:05:31,810 --> 00:05:29,570 sugars but even if we could produce 127 00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:31,820 ribose exclusively we have a further 128 00:05:37,090 --> 00:05:34,070 problem in that the canonical 129 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:37,100 nucleobases AUG and c do not react with 130 00:05:39,910 --> 00:05:38,510 ribose in water in the absence of 131 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:39,920 enzymes the form nucleosides 132 00:05:43,450 --> 00:05:42,290 even if we could form nucleosides though 133 00:05:45,550 --> 00:05:43,460 there are difficulties in 134 00:05:47,830 --> 00:05:45,560 phosphorylation and i'm sure some of you 135 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:47,840 are aware of attempts to overcome these 136 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:49,130 difficulties which indeed do 137 00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:51,230 phosphorylate organic compounds but 138 00:05:55,780 --> 00:05:53,110 there remains the problem of 139 00:06:00,370 --> 00:05:55,790 polymerizing those organophosphates to 140 00:06:01,810 --> 00:06:00,380 get this phosphodiester polymer so we in 141 00:06:03,340 --> 00:06:01,820 the HUD lab and in the Center for 142 00:06:06,610 --> 00:06:03,350 chemical evolution in general have this 143 00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:06,620 new approach which is basically the 144 00:06:09,610 --> 00:06:07,910 structures that are present in life 145 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:09,620 today are not necessarily those that 146 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:11,450 were present at the very origin of life 147 00:06:15,460 --> 00:06:13,730 and that applies to RNA as well so if 148 00:06:19,780 --> 00:06:15,470 you're willing to accept the idea that 149 00:06:21,670 --> 00:06:19,790 DNA is the descendant of RNA perhaps RNA 150 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:21,680 is the evolutionary descendant of a 151 00:06:26,650 --> 00:06:24,050 series of pre rnas going all the way 152 00:06:31,939 --> 00:06:26,660 back to this proto-aryan a it's an older 153 00:06:36,290 --> 00:06:33,529 so what we do is we take the nucleic 154 00:06:39,740 --> 00:06:36,300 acids of today and we partition them 155 00:06:41,060 --> 00:06:39,750 into three structural components so one 156 00:06:44,870 --> 00:06:41,070 of them is the ionized linker which 157 00:06:46,430 --> 00:06:44,880 today is phosphate one of them is the 158 00:06:49,670 --> 00:06:46,440 tri functional connector which today is 159 00:06:52,310 --> 00:06:49,680 either ribose in RNA or deoxyribose in 160 00:06:53,570 --> 00:06:52,320 DNA and then we have the recognition 161 00:06:56,540 --> 00:06:53,580 units which are the canonical 162 00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:56,550 nucleobases AUG NC and these structural 163 00:06:59,480 --> 00:06:57,930 components we think would still be 164 00:07:01,040 --> 00:06:59,490 present in the most ancient nucleic 165 00:07:04,150 --> 00:07:01,050 acids but they might have been replaced 166 00:07:06,740 --> 00:07:04,160 with different chemical moieties which 167 00:07:08,390 --> 00:07:06,750 had chemical properties more amenable to 168 00:07:12,740 --> 00:07:08,400 spontaneous formation than this 169 00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:12,750 phosphodiester polymer okay so first I'm 170 00:07:16,730 --> 00:07:14,310 gonna focus on the recognition units of 171 00:07:19,129 --> 00:07:16,740 RNA and how we can start to speculate on 172 00:07:21,740 --> 00:07:19,139 what if what may have preceded the 173 00:07:25,210 --> 00:07:21,750 excellent nucleobases so if you have a 174 00:07:28,100 --> 00:07:25,220 prebiotic ly reasonable milieu of 175 00:07:29,930 --> 00:07:28,110 nucleobases some of them will be the 176 00:07:32,300 --> 00:07:29,940 ones that are present in life today but 177 00:07:33,980 --> 00:07:32,310 surely just out of the natural 178 00:07:34,790 --> 00:07:33,990 trajectory of prebiotic chemistry you're 179 00:07:37,279 --> 00:07:34,800 going to have a bunch of other 180 00:07:37,939 --> 00:07:37,289 heterocycles that are not featured in 181 00:07:40,430 --> 00:07:37,949 life today 182 00:07:42,770 --> 00:07:40,440 so how do we sort out from that complex 183 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:42,780 mixture a set of nucleobases that can 184 00:07:47,300 --> 00:07:45,510 form an informational system well let's 185 00:07:48,379 --> 00:07:47,310 use the concept of super molecular 186 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:48,389 assembly to our advantage 187 00:07:52,370 --> 00:07:50,610 some of these heterocycles with will 188 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:52,380 have the ability to spontaneously self 189 00:07:56,750 --> 00:07:54,690 sort into a super molecular aggregate 190 00:07:59,180 --> 00:07:56,760 and they'll exclude all the other 191 00:08:00,890 --> 00:07:59,190 nucleobases once we had that non 192 00:08:03,499 --> 00:08:00,900 covalent super molecular assembly 193 00:08:07,460 --> 00:08:03,509 perhaps we can use that as a scaffold to 194 00:08:08,899 --> 00:08:07,470 create a covalent polymer so these are 195 00:08:10,879 --> 00:08:08,909 the heterocycles that were most 196 00:08:13,580 --> 00:08:10,889 concerned with they have the ability to 197 00:08:16,339 --> 00:08:13,590 form these super molecular structures by 198 00:08:17,990 --> 00:08:16,349 having two hydrogen bonding phases so 199 00:08:20,330 --> 00:08:18,000 what that means is that they have these 200 00:08:22,189 --> 00:08:20,340 edges that have very polar sides and 201 00:08:24,469 --> 00:08:22,199 they snap together with their pairing 202 00:08:27,529 --> 00:08:24,479 partners to form these hex-head 203 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:27,539 structures so the bases that we're 204 00:08:31,189 --> 00:08:29,610 concerned with are barbaric acid try me 205 00:08:32,389 --> 00:08:31,199 know permitting or tap as I'm going to 206 00:08:34,850 --> 00:08:32,399 refer to it in the rest of the talk 207 00:08:36,469 --> 00:08:34,860 cyanuric acid and Melanie they all have 208 00:08:38,839 --> 00:08:36,479 the ability to form this hex ad which 209 00:08:40,819 --> 00:08:38,849 forms spontaneously and water the really 210 00:08:42,769 --> 00:08:40,829 cool thing about this hex ad is that 211 00:08:43,820 --> 00:08:42,779 once it's formed it presents a very 212 00:08:45,890 --> 00:08:43,830 large hydro flow 213 00:08:48,530 --> 00:08:45,900 like surface and water and that is very 214 00:08:50,990 --> 00:08:48,540 unfavorable to present to bulk water so 215 00:08:52,460 --> 00:08:51,000 what it does is stack one on top of the 216 00:08:55,370 --> 00:08:52,470 other in order to hide those hydrophobic 217 00:09:00,860 --> 00:08:55,380 faces and you have this super molecular 218 00:09:02,420 --> 00:09:00,870 assembly as a result all right so we 219 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:02,430 have these non-canonical nuclear bases 220 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:05,130 that we want to form polymers out of do 221 00:09:08,990 --> 00:09:07,170 they actually react with ribose in order 222 00:09:12,530 --> 00:09:09,000 to form nucleotides turns out that they 223 00:09:14,090 --> 00:09:12,540 do this is work from 2013 from Michael 224 00:09:16,940 --> 00:09:14,100 Chen and Brian Cafferty in the HUD lab 225 00:09:19,340 --> 00:09:16,950 so if you take this hetero cycle tap and 226 00:09:21,620 --> 00:09:19,350 react it with ribose there are a variety 227 00:09:22,940 --> 00:09:21,630 of products that you can form and the 228 00:09:25,430 --> 00:09:22,950 details of this are not important 229 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:25,440 besides that the one you form in the 230 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:28,170 greatest yield is the beta rival for 231 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:30,090 your an aside which what that really 232 00:09:35,180 --> 00:09:32,610 means is it has the same conformation 233 00:09:36,740 --> 00:09:35,190 that nucleus sides in life today have so 234 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:36,750 the problem is that if you had ribose 235 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:38,850 there were all these possibilities and 236 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:40,770 it's not immediately clear why we have 237 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:42,330 this one in life today 238 00:09:46,130 --> 00:09:44,370 but this suggests that it's just the 239 00:09:49,460 --> 00:09:46,140 natural outcome of the chemical reaction 240 00:09:51,470 --> 00:09:49,470 and if you take this nucleus side which 241 00:09:53,150 --> 00:09:51,480 we call tark and you incubate it with 242 00:09:55,340 --> 00:09:53,160 cyanuric acid in the appropriate buffer 243 00:09:57,380 --> 00:09:55,350 you get these super molecular assemblies 244 00:09:59,510 --> 00:09:57,390 and you can even visualize them by 245 00:10:01,220 --> 00:09:59,520 atomic force microscopy you can see here 246 00:10:03,890 --> 00:10:01,230 that they have the appropriate diameter 247 00:10:07,580 --> 00:10:03,900 for what we predict this super molecular 248 00:10:09,890 --> 00:10:07,590 assembly to be all right so that's cool 249 00:10:11,330 --> 00:10:09,900 but if you want to have an informational 250 00:10:13,970 --> 00:10:11,340 system you need to have at least two 251 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:13,980 units so just having tap is not enough 252 00:10:17,510 --> 00:10:15,570 so what we're gonna do is take 253 00:10:19,730 --> 00:10:17,520 inspiration again from excellent biology 254 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:19,740 and make inferences about what extinct 255 00:10:23,990 --> 00:10:21,450 biology could have been like so we have 256 00:10:25,670 --> 00:10:24,000 the au base pair which cannot form 257 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:25,680 spontaneously in a prebiotic we 258 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:27,960 plausible men or remember that but 259 00:10:31,670 --> 00:10:30,090 perhaps we can have a similar base pair 260 00:10:33,740 --> 00:10:31,680 which is structurally analogous but that 261 00:10:36,230 --> 00:10:33,750 can form spontaneously improve on acquis 262 00:10:37,490 --> 00:10:36,240 plausible manner just like tark and it 263 00:10:39,710 --> 00:10:37,500 turns out that that is indeed the case 264 00:10:41,270 --> 00:10:39,720 so barbaric acid and melamine both have 265 00:10:43,700 --> 00:10:41,280 the ability to react with ribose in 266 00:10:45,710 --> 00:10:43,710 water ribose 5-phosphate in this case to 267 00:10:48,290 --> 00:10:45,720 form nucleotides and they have the 268 00:10:50,780 --> 00:10:48,300 ability to assemble just like before 269 00:10:52,730 --> 00:10:50,790 at the appropriate pH to form the super 270 00:10:54,590 --> 00:10:52,740 molecular assembly and again you can see 271 00:10:55,940 --> 00:10:54,600 this by atomic force microscopy and 272 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:55,950 another really cool feature of the 273 00:10:58,850 --> 00:10:56,850 system is that 274 00:11:01,160 --> 00:10:58,860 these fibers are so long and so 275 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:01,170 interlinked that they prevent the bulk 276 00:11:05,809 --> 00:11:03,230 flow of water so you get this hydrogel 277 00:11:07,790 --> 00:11:05,819 so that's a cool material property but 278 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:07,800 what's really important here that I want 279 00:11:12,259 --> 00:11:10,050 you to take away is that we have an 280 00:11:13,550 --> 00:11:12,269 information system now as long as we can 281 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:13,560 figure out a way to polymerize them 282 00:11:18,980 --> 00:11:16,110 because we have two units so really 283 00:11:21,110 --> 00:11:18,990 quickly I want to tell you about another 284 00:11:23,090 --> 00:11:21,120 component of RNA which is the tri 285 00:11:25,519 --> 00:11:23,100 functional connector so just now I was 286 00:11:27,829 --> 00:11:25,529 telling you about how we're not going to 287 00:11:29,569 --> 00:11:27,839 deal with the canonical nucleobases 288 00:11:30,980 --> 00:11:29,579 because they don't react with ribose in 289 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:30,990 water but if we're willing to accept 290 00:11:34,550 --> 00:11:32,850 that the nucleobases may have been 291 00:11:36,230 --> 00:11:34,560 different we should have that exact same 292 00:11:38,210 --> 00:11:36,240 attitude with all the other components 293 00:11:39,499 --> 00:11:38,220 of RNA so for example we're going to 294 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:39,509 take the tri functional connector which 295 00:11:44,090 --> 00:11:41,730 today is ribose and see if it could have 296 00:11:45,530 --> 00:11:44,100 been something different now I mentioned 297 00:11:47,780 --> 00:11:45,540 before that it's really difficult to get 298 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:47,790 ribose in a selective manner because the 299 00:11:51,110 --> 00:11:49,290 reaction that typically is invoked to 300 00:11:52,819 --> 00:11:51,120 produce sugars the foremost reaction is 301 00:11:54,769 --> 00:11:52,829 inherently not selective it produces a 302 00:11:56,210 --> 00:11:54,779 ton of sugar it's like there's a 303 00:11:57,740 --> 00:11:56,220 chromatogram that was shown in Becky's 304 00:11:58,850 --> 00:11:57,750 slides I think that shows the products 305 00:12:00,319 --> 00:11:58,860 of the foremost reaction and you know 306 00:12:02,900 --> 00:12:00,329 there's like a hundred Peaks there's 307 00:12:05,929 --> 00:12:02,910 even more than that so we had this 308 00:12:07,429 --> 00:12:05,939 question if you do naturally produce a 309 00:12:10,100 --> 00:12:07,439 ton of sugars in these prebiotic 310 00:12:12,439 --> 00:12:10,110 reactions can a non-canonical nucleobase 311 00:12:14,329 --> 00:12:12,449 react not just with ribose but perhaps a 312 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:14,339 suite of them to form 313 00:12:19,579 --> 00:12:16,410 non-canonical nucleosides or glycosides 314 00:12:21,980 --> 00:12:19,589 really now again chemical structure is 315 00:12:23,540 --> 00:12:21,990 terrifying but all I want you to take 316 00:12:25,189 --> 00:12:23,550 away from this is that there's a variety 317 00:12:27,170 --> 00:12:25,199 of sugars which ostensibly have 318 00:12:29,449 --> 00:12:27,180 different chemical properties and may or 319 00:12:31,059 --> 00:12:29,459 may not react with tap so what I'm gonna 320 00:12:36,230 --> 00:12:31,069 do is I'm gonna take a general sugar 321 00:12:37,850 --> 00:12:36,240 just read this word and react it with 322 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:37,860 tap and you can get a bunch of different 323 00:12:44,660 --> 00:12:41,250 products and it turns out that it works 324 00:12:46,850 --> 00:12:44,670 so in this chart I have the yields here 325 00:12:49,429 --> 00:12:46,860 so we did this either at pH 1 or pH 7 326 00:12:51,350 --> 00:12:49,439 because it turns out that this reaction 327 00:12:53,150 --> 00:12:51,360 happens to be acid catalyzed but I want 328 00:12:54,829 --> 00:12:53,160 you to note that on every single 329 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:54,839 structure here the reaction worked and 330 00:12:58,329 --> 00:12:56,730 at least one of those conditions every 331 00:13:02,389 --> 00:12:58,339 single one and that's important because 332 00:13:04,670 --> 00:13:02,399 it's often just assumed without any kind 333 00:13:06,410 --> 00:13:04,680 of you know it's assumed a priori that 334 00:13:07,850 --> 00:13:06,420 ribose was first because that's what's 335 00:13:09,769 --> 00:13:07,860 in biology today but that's not 336 00:13:10,079 --> 00:13:09,779 necessarily a good assumption because at 337 00:13:11,910 --> 00:13:10,089 least 338 00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:11,920 from a reactivity standpoint there's 339 00:13:16,079 --> 00:13:14,230 nothing special about ribose all of 340 00:13:17,340 --> 00:13:16,089 these sugars all of them have the 341 00:13:22,259 --> 00:13:17,350 ability to react with the non-canonical 342 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:22,269 nuclear base okay great so now this is 343 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:23,410 gonna really be for the chemists in the 344 00:13:28,439 --> 00:13:26,290 room we wanted to take a closer look at 345 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:28,449 the structural outcome of some of these 346 00:13:32,579 --> 00:13:30,730 reactions now it turns out that glucose 347 00:13:33,569 --> 00:13:32,589 is one of the easiest sugars to study 348 00:13:40,470 --> 00:13:33,579 because it's one of the most well 349 00:13:42,239 --> 00:13:40,480 behaved and structurally congruent so if 350 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:42,249 we take a glucose derivative and react 351 00:13:46,829 --> 00:13:43,689 it with tap there's basically six 352 00:13:48,660 --> 00:13:46,839 possibilities up here these all have the 353 00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:48,670 tap nucleobase pointing up 354 00:13:52,439 --> 00:13:50,529 that's called beta these all have the 355 00:13:54,389 --> 00:13:52,449 tab nucleobase pointing down that's 356 00:13:56,369 --> 00:13:54,399 called alpha the reason that's important 357 00:13:59,819 --> 00:13:56,379 is because in life today almost all 358 00:14:02,910 --> 00:13:59,829 glycosides of you know of nucleobases 359 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:02,920 are beta and it turns out the one we get 360 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:05,050 when we react tap with glucose or 361 00:14:09,809 --> 00:14:08,050 glucose derivative all of the products 362 00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:09,819 are beta so that's very interesting but 363 00:14:14,610 --> 00:14:11,529 that might be intrinsic to glucose 364 00:14:17,069 --> 00:14:14,620 derivatives nevertheless when you get 365 00:14:18,929 --> 00:14:17,079 the reaction of tap with glucose you get 366 00:14:22,019 --> 00:14:18,939 every possible substitution on the tap 367 00:14:24,239 --> 00:14:22,029 molecule because tap turns out to be a 368 00:14:26,449 --> 00:14:24,249 multi dentate nucleophile so you can 369 00:14:28,980 --> 00:14:26,459 have different positions of substitution 370 00:14:30,989 --> 00:14:28,990 glucose 6-phosphate behaves the exact 371 00:14:33,179 --> 00:14:30,999 same way and strangely n acetyl 372 00:14:35,460 --> 00:14:33,189 glucosamine does not tolerate the c 373 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:35,470 substitution this is a really esoteric 374 00:14:39,569 --> 00:14:36,850 point but that might have to do with 375 00:14:42,290 --> 00:14:39,579 diminished electro felicity of the 376 00:14:45,569 --> 00:14:42,300 relevant intermediate in the reaction 377 00:14:47,809 --> 00:14:45,579 okay so super molecular assembly again 378 00:14:49,980 --> 00:14:47,819 is it possible that these non canonical 379 00:14:51,749 --> 00:14:49,990 nucleus sites which do not feature 380 00:14:52,259 --> 00:14:51,759 ribose have the ability to assemble in 381 00:14:54,509 --> 00:14:52,269 water 382 00:14:56,610 --> 00:14:54,519 well I took one of them and I purified 383 00:14:58,949 --> 00:14:56,620 it just because it's easier to study 384 00:15:00,900 --> 00:14:58,959 that way when you incubate it with 385 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:00,910 cyanuric acid at the appropriate pH it 386 00:15:04,710 --> 00:15:02,290 forms assemblies but they're really 387 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:04,720 small this is again an atomic force 388 00:15:10,110 --> 00:15:08,050 microscopy image that's weird but what 389 00:15:11,759 --> 00:15:10,120 if I take the crude reaction mixture so 390 00:15:14,189 --> 00:15:11,769 what that means is I perform a reaction 391 00:15:15,569 --> 00:15:14,199 and I took the reaction without any 392 00:15:18,449 --> 00:15:15,579 purification and mixed it with cyanuric 393 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:18,459 acid those form very long fibers which 394 00:15:23,069 --> 00:15:20,170 is interesting because this is the more 395 00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:23,079 prebiotic lee reminiscent scenario so 396 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:23,950 maybe that's telling 397 00:15:28,860 --> 00:15:26,170 something about how these polymers got 398 00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:28,870 going okay really quickly I just wanted 399 00:15:32,070 --> 00:15:30,760 to point out that in this study we had 400 00:15:34,620 --> 00:15:32,080 an interesting result which is that a 401 00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:34,630 sugar called rib ulos we anticipated to 402 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:36,670 react with tap in this manner to form 403 00:15:40,290 --> 00:15:38,890 these strange nucleus sides but it turns 404 00:15:41,970 --> 00:15:40,300 out that there's no evidence for their 405 00:15:44,550 --> 00:15:41,980 formation rather it forms these 406 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:44,560 arabinose IDEs and dry besides that's 407 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:46,690 cool because Ryba sides are nucleus 408 00:15:50,190 --> 00:15:47,650 sites those are the things that are 409 00:15:52,050 --> 00:15:50,200 present in life today now why are we 410 00:15:53,190 --> 00:15:52,060 excited about this I told you earlier 411 00:15:55,050 --> 00:15:53,200 that it's really difficult to get to 412 00:15:56,790 --> 00:15:55,060 ribose in a prebiotic ly possible manner 413 00:15:58,710 --> 00:15:56,800 but it turns out that rib ulos is a 414 00:16:00,540 --> 00:15:58,720 little bit easier there's a synthesis by 415 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:00,550 ROM Christian Murphy where you can get 416 00:16:05,670 --> 00:16:03,370 to Regulus and in our system we think 417 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:05,680 what's going on is that it's isomerizing 418 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:08,650 in situ to ribose and arabinose and then 419 00:16:12,180 --> 00:16:10,210 reacting with tap to form these 420 00:16:14,370 --> 00:16:12,190 nucleotides so that's pretty cool this 421 00:16:16,530 --> 00:16:14,380 is the proposed prebiotic synthesis of 422 00:16:19,470 --> 00:16:16,540 rib EULA's and if you want to learn more 423 00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:19,480 please see Tyler's poster which is all 424 00:16:27,060 --> 00:16:24,580 about this okay so just to recap we are 425 00:16:28,350 --> 00:16:27,070 taking the stance that the structures 426 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:28,360 that are present in life today are not 427 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:29,770 necessarily those that were present at 428 00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:31,690 the origin of life and most importantly 429 00:16:36,780 --> 00:16:35,110 RNA was not emphatically first so if we 430 00:16:38,970 --> 00:16:36,790 take this approach we get some really 431 00:16:41,370 --> 00:16:38,980 interesting results the nucleobases 432 00:16:42,420 --> 00:16:41,380 could have been different we go to ones 433 00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:42,430 that are more reactive and have a 434 00:16:45,630 --> 00:16:44,260 greater propensity for self-assembly the 435 00:16:49,430 --> 00:16:45,640 sugars could have been different in that 436 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:49,440 sorting that out is that's gonna be fine 437 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:51,490 we didn't I didn't talk about the 438 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:52,930 ionized linker but we are investigating 439 00:16:59,190 --> 00:16:55,090 that in our lab and if you want to learn 440 00:17:01,530 --> 00:16:59,200 more just ask me later okay 441 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:01,540 so I just want to thank everyone who 442 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:03,370 made this possible Brian Cafferty was my 443 00:17:06,510 --> 00:17:05,410 mentor when I first joined the lab Kim 444 00:17:07,980 --> 00:17:06,520 Clark did all the atomic force 445 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:07,990 microscopy that you just saw 446 00:17:11,610 --> 00:17:09,579 Tyler's our new graduate student who's 447 00:17:13,290 --> 00:17:11,620 taking on all this rib you low stuff I 448 00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:13,300 was really lucky to have really talented 449 00:17:17,850 --> 00:17:15,280 undergraduates Catherine and Megan and 450 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:17,860 really great mentors especially ipi 451 00:17:27,329 --> 00:17:18,610 nicholas hi 452 00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:29,289 all right we have time for a couple 453 00:17:49,850 --> 00:17:47,540 hi we talk in your walk with interaction 454 00:17:52,220 --> 00:17:49,860 with Daffy and barbecue rig acid do you 455 00:17:55,220 --> 00:17:52,230 think that the interaction between 456 00:17:58,220 --> 00:17:55,230 tavern barbecue rig acid and their 457 00:18:00,680 --> 00:17:58,230 ribose phosphate derivatives is that 458 00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:00,690 depending on their inherent chirality as 459 00:18:03,890 --> 00:18:02,550 well could be 460 00:18:05,630 --> 00:18:03,900 so you're talking about the chirality of 461 00:18:11,990 --> 00:18:05,640 those nucleotides has endowed by the 462 00:18:14,510 --> 00:18:12,000 sugar yeah okay it could but we perform 463 00:18:16,190 --> 00:18:14,520 this study with commercially supplied 464 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:16,200 sugars so they are in fatica ly not 465 00:18:19,970 --> 00:18:18,210 receiving they're all in an tio cured so 466 00:18:23,300 --> 00:18:19,980 we have not investigated that yet but 467 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:23,310 there is research in our lab which find 468 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:30,570 me later I'll tell you about that would 469 00:18:34,430 --> 00:18:32,370 it be possible then or have you tried 470 00:18:37,340 --> 00:18:34,440 something like that in which a chiral 471 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:37,350 the or one part of it resolves another 472 00:18:43,910 --> 00:18:42,570 which is its that someone else's work in 473 00:18:58,750 --> 00:18:43,920 my lab and I can totally tell you all 474 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:02,500 my grater in general what glucosides 475 00:19:08,410 --> 00:19:04,970 also something chromatic linked to a 476 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:08,420 sugar a very very common implants which 477 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:10,370 are used for all type of signaling and 478 00:19:15,700 --> 00:19:12,650 regulation do you think that if before 479 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:15,710 was just on RNA and DNA really need us 480 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:18,530 in understanding for example ancient 481 00:19:22,510 --> 00:19:20,090 signaling pathways or action networks 482 00:19:24,220 --> 00:19:22,520 because this thing's they might look 483 00:19:34,260 --> 00:19:24,230 more similar to work like plants and 484 00:19:36,100 --> 00:19:34,270 bacteria nowadays yeah yeah yeah okay so 485 00:19:38,500 --> 00:19:36,110 related to what you're saying 486 00:19:40,690 --> 00:19:38,510 it's interesting to think about how so 487 00:19:42,850 --> 00:19:40,700 many cofactors in life are basically 488 00:19:46,750 --> 00:19:42,860 nucleotide it's like NADH and stuff like 489 00:19:48,910 --> 00:19:46,760 that I think that that might bear a clue 490 00:19:51,610 --> 00:19:48,920 as to the origin of nucleic acids but it 491 00:19:53,770 --> 00:19:51,620 you know also possibly the origin of a 492 00:19:56,620 --> 00:19:53,780 more rudimentary biological system in 493 00:19:58,960 --> 00:19:56,630 general but we can talk yeah that can go 494 00:19:59,670 --> 00:19:58,970 into many avenues so I'll just leave it 495 00:20:01,870 --> 00:19:59,680 at that 496 00:20:03,940 --> 00:20:01,880 alright so in the interest of time we're