How Peptides are Formed

For a long time, scientists could not explain the spontaneous formation of peptides. "If you need a protein to make proteins; how did the first protein arise?" Research leader Matthew Powner asks himself aloud. With his team, however, he has been able to unravel this mystery and solve this classic chicken-and-egg problem.

What are peptides?

A peptide is a molecule that consists of a small number of amino acids that are connected to each other. "Peptides are one of the foundations of biochemistry and are essential for all life on earth," Powner explains to Scientias.nl when asked. "They are the fundamental structural element from which proteins are made. However, these peptides themselves also need enzymes to be able to form. And so the question is how the first peptides originated in the early years of the earth. You can buy peptides for your research too.

How are peptides formed?

Many researchers have tried to understand how peptides first developed. They focused mainly on amino acids. "For over sixty years, scientists have tried to build peptides from amino acids in water," says Powner. Unfortunately, those efforts came to nothing. Peptides don't just form from amino acids when you put them together in water. What was missing? "We took a step back - literally and figuratively," says Powner. The researchers came up with a new theory. Maybe the solution wasn't in those amino acids, but in the precursors of the amino acids.

Other purposes

The results of the study are also useful in other areas. "Peptides and the more general amides are one of the most important classes of bonds in chemistry and biology," says Powner. "Not only are they the most important chemical compounds of proteins, they are also the basis for some of the most versatile and widely used synthetic polymers.” In addition, they are essential to many commercial and synthetic materials and pharmaceutical products.