期刊
出版社
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101314118
关键词
astrochemistry; ethanolamine; molecular clouds; prebiotic chemistry; cell membranes
资金
- National Institute for Universe Sciences and Astronomy/National Center for Scientific Research (France)
- Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (Germany)
- National Geographic Institute (IGN) (Spain)
- Comunidad de Madrid through the Atraccion de Talento Investigador Modalidad 1 (contratacion de doctores con experiencia) grant (COOL: Cosmic Origins of Life) [2019-T1/TIC-15379]
- Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) [PID2019-105552RB-C41]
- Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through Unidad de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu-Centro de Astrobiologia (Spanish National Research Council [CSIC]-National Institute of Aerospace Technology) project [MDM-2017-0737]
- CSIC JAE Intro ICU studentship
- European Research Council (ERC) through Synergy Grant ERC-2013SyG [610256]
- Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICIU) [PID2019-107115GB-C21]
- Spanish MICIU [AYA2016-75066-C2-1-P, PID2019-106235GB-I00]
Cell membranes, crucial for life, are composed of phospholipids. The presence of ethanolamine in space suggests its potential role in the assembly of primitive membranes on early Earth.
Cell membranes are a key element of life because they keep the genetic material and metabolic machinery together. All present cell membranes are made of phospholipids, yet the nature of the first membranes and the origin of phospholipids are still under debate. We report here the presence of ethanolamine in space, NH2CH2CH2OH, which forms the hydrophilic head of the simplest and second-most-abundant phospholipid in membranes. The molecular column density of ethanolamine in interstellar space is N = (1.51 +/- 0.07) x 1013 cm-2, implying a molecular abundance with respect to H2 of (0.9 - 1.4) x 10-10. Previous studies reported its presence in meteoritic material, but they suggested that it is synthesized in the meteorite itself by decomposition of amino acids. However, we find that the proportion of the molecule with respect to water in the interstellar medium is similar to the one found in the meteorite (10-6). These results indicate that ethanolamine forms efficiently in space and, if delivered onto early Earth, could have contributed to the assembling and early evolution of primitive membranes.
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