Small Cofactors Assist Primitive Protein Emergence
2011
Small Cofactors May Assist Protein Emergence from RNA World
Sample size: 648
publication
Evidence: moderate
Author Information
Author(s): Shen Liang, Ji Hong-Fang
Primary Institution: Shandong Provincial Research Center for Bioinformatic Engineering and Technique, Shandong University of Technology
Hypothesis
The emergence of most primitive functional proteins is assisted by early primitive nucleotide cofactors.
Conclusion
The study suggests that primitive functional proteins mainly emerged with the help of early nucleotide cofactors rather than directly from RNA.
Supporting Evidence
- The study proposes that early primitive nucleotide cofactors played a major role in the emergence of functional proteins.
- Analysis of RNA-protein complexes suggests that only a minority of proteins were induced directly by RNA.
Takeaway
This study looks at how the first proteins might have formed from RNA, suggesting that small helpers called cofactors played a big role.
Methodology
The study analyzed RNA-protein complexes from a database to understand the role of cofactors in protein emergence.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.0001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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