Homochirality and life.

Noriko Fujii; Takeshi Saito

doi:10.1002/tcr.20020

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Homochirality and life.

Noriko Fujii·Takeshi Saito

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Abstract

Before the emergence of life, left-handed amino acids (L-enantiomers) were selected and right-handed amino acids (D-enantiomers) were eliminated on the primal earth. Nevertheless, with the progress of analytical methods, D-amino acids have recently been found in higher order living organisms in the form of free amino acids, peptides, and proteins. Free D-amino acids have numerous physiological functions. D-amino acids containing animal peptides are well known as opioid peptides. D-amino acids in protein are related to aging. In this review, we describe the D-amino acids that are present and function as D-amino acid biosystems in our bodies.

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Aging Amino Acid Sequence Amino Acids Animals Biological Evolution Humans Molecular Sequence Data Origin of Life Proteins Stereoisomerism Journal Article Review

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Noriko Fujii, Takeshi Saito. 2004. Homochirality and life.. https://doi.org/10.1002/tcr.20020

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