Guanine-centric self-assembly of nucleotides in water: an important consideration in prebiotic chemistry.

Investigations of plausible prebiotic chemistry on early Earth must consider not only chemical reactions to form more complex products such as proto-biopolymers but also reversible, molecular self-assembly that would influence the availability, organization, and sequestration of reactant molecules. The self-assembly of guanosine compounds into higher-order structures and lyotropic liquid crystalline "gel" phases through formation of hydrogen-bonded guanine tetrads (G-tetrads) is one such consideration that is particularly relevant to an RNA-world scenario. G-tetrad-based gelation has been well studied for individual guanosine compounds and was recently observed in mixtures of guanosine with 5'-guanosine monophosphate (GMP) as well.

Potential pitfalls in MALDI-TOF MS analysis of abiotically synthesized RNA oligonucleotides.

Demonstration of the abiotic polymerization of ribonucleotides under conditions consistent with conditions that may have existed on the prebiotic Earth is an important goal in "RNA world" research. Recent reports of abiotic RNA polymerization with and without catalysis rely on techniques such as HPLC, gel electrophoresis, and MALDI-TOF MS to analyze the reaction products. It is essential to understand the limitations of these techniques in order to accurately interpret the results of these analyses.

Signal enhancement of abiotically-synthesized RNA oligonucleotides and other biopolymers using unmodified fused silica in MALDI-MS.

Metal is the standard desorption platform for MALDI-MS but other surfaces have been shown to offer advantages for particular types of analytes or applications. One such substrate is fused silica, which has been employed for matrix-free detection of low mass analytes and for affinity MALDI-MS in which binding ligands are immobilized at the fused silica surface. The present work reports improved MALDI-MS detection of RNA oligonucleotides, including polyA, polyU, and polyA/U, at the high end of the mass range when unmodified fused silica is used instead of stainless steel as the MALDI target.