{"id":14814,"date":"2025-06-12T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=14814"},"modified":"2025-06-05T15:39:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:39:37","slug":"ancient-protein-motifs-evolution-life-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/ancient-protein-motifs-evolution-life-june-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Challenges the Role of Ancient Protein Motifs in the Evolution of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-gray-200-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 id=\"at-a-glance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">At a Glance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Scientists have long believed the Walker A motif was central to early protein evolution, but new research shows it may not hold the foundational role previously assumed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Researchers from Georgia Tech and Tokyo&#8217;s Earth-Life Science Institute tested peptides based on the motif. They found they lacked structural stability and were not uniquely significant compared to similar motifs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The study proposes that the Walker A motif may be an eroded molecular fossil, a remnant of ancient proteins whose role has shifted over billions of years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">These findings suggest protein evolution was more complex than a single starting motif, as similar structures could arise under various environmental conditions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">This research could impact biotechnology by guiding artificial protein design, offering insights into how diverse proteins may have emerged in early life on Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A new study is challenging long-standing assumptions about how proteins evolved and what their earliest forms might have looked like. For years, scientists believed that a specific protein motif\u2014a small, recurring sequence of amino acids\u2014was the starting point for many of the proteins we find in organisms today. This motif, known as the <em>Walker A<\/em> motif, is found in enzymes that play an essential role in various biological functions, including energy production. However, researchers now suggest that this motif alone is not the key to understanding the origin of proteins, and its role in early life might be more complex than previously thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The study, published in <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/mbe\/article\/42\/4\/msaf055\/8071345\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Molecular Biology and Evolution<\/em><\/a>, was led by <a href=\"https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/lynn-kamerlin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lynn Kamerlin<\/a>, a professor at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Georgia Tech<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/liamlongo.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Liam Longo<\/a>, a researcher at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Earth-Life Science Institute<\/a> in Tokyo. The team tested the idea that the Walker A motif could have sparked the development of proteins in early life. They did this by creating and analyzing short peptides\u2014small pieces of proteins\u2014based on the Walker A motif and then simulating how these peptides behave in different environments. They found that these peptides did not form the stable structures expected and were no more significant than other similar motifs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/protein-problem-resear.jpg\" ><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A schematic representation of cofactor-bound Walker A P-loops. New research suggests that this protein motif, once thought to be a fundamental building block in early protein evolution, might be an &#8220;eroded molecular fossil,&#8221; with its role being more complex than previously assumed. This challenges long-standing assumptions about protein origins and opens new avenues for biotechnology. (Demkiv et al., 2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Kamerlin and Longo&#8217;s findings suggest that the Walker A motif is not the sole origin of proteins. Instead, they propose that the motif may be an \u201ceroded molecular fossil\u201d\u2014a remnant of ancient proteins whose original function has been overwritten by billions of years of evolution. Just like the presence of eyes does not mean all animals with heads evolved from those eyes, the Walker A motif\u2019s role is part of a much larger, more complex system that allows proteins to function. The team also showed that similar motifs could form in different environments, challenging the idea that this motif was uniquely suited to the earliest life forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The implications of this study go beyond just understanding the origins of life. By rethinking how proteins evolved, the team\u2019s work opens up new possibilities for biotechnology. Understanding the early evolution of proteins could help scientists design artificial proteins for various applications, from developing new drugs to improving vaccines. However, the work is still ongoing, and the next step for researchers is to investigate how these motifs became dominant over time and what other types of proteins could have emerged in the early stages of life. This study is just the beginning of a deeper exploration into the mystery of how life evolved on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 id=\"references\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Demkiv, A. O., Toledo-Pati\u00f1o, S., Medina-Carmona, E., Berg, A., Pinto, G. P., Parracino, A., Sanchez-Ruiz, J. M., Hengge, A. C., Laurino, P., Longo, L. M., &amp; Kamerlin, S. C. L. (2025). Redefining the limits of functional continuity in the early evolution of p-loop ntpases. <em>Molecular Biology and Evolution<\/em>, <em>42<\/em>(4), msaf055. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/molbev\/msaf055\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/molbev\/msaf055<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Malone, T. &amp; Georgia Institute of Technology. (2025, May 13). <em>Protein problem: Researchers challenge fundamental assumption in evolutionary biochemistry<\/em>. Phys.Org; Georgia Institute of Technology. <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-05-protein-problem-fundamental-assumption-evolutionary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-05-protein-problem-fundamental-assumption-evolutionary.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New research shows that the Walker A motif may not have been the foundational building block of early proteins, challenging long-held views on the molecular origins of life and protein evolution.\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/13014236\/pexels-photo-13014236.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&w=1260&h=750&dpr=2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,11],"tags":[11791,11784,11792,11803,11794,11800,11793,11797,11802,11789,11785,11788,11798,11801,11787,11799,11790,11795,11786,11796],"class_list":{"0":"post-14814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-math-and-the-sciences","8":"category-nature","9":"tag-amino-acid-sequence-motifs","10":"tag-ancient-protein-motifs","11":"tag-artificial-protein-design","12":"tag-biotechnology-protein-applications","13":"tag-early-protein-evolution","14":"tag-earth-life-science-institute-research","15":"tag-evolution-of-enzymatic-motifs","16":"tag-evolutionary-biology-of-proteins","17":"tag-georgia-tech-protein-study","18":"tag-molecular-fossils-in-proteins","19":"tag-origin-of-life-biochemistry","20":"tag-peptide-structure-stability","21":"tag-prebiotic-protein-structures","22":"tag-protein-engineering-insights","23":"tag-protein-evolution-origins","24":"tag-protein-motif-complexity","25":"tag-protein-motif-function","26":"tag-stable-vs-unstable-peptide-motifs","27":"tag-walker-a-motif","28":"tag-walker-motif-re-evaluation","29":"cs-entry","30":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14815,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14814\/revisions\/14815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}