Publications

23. Xiwen Jia†, Ziyuan Fang, Seohyun Chris Kim, Dian Ding, Lijun Zhou*, Jack W Szostak* (2024) Diaminopurine in Nonenzymatic RNA Template Copying. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146 (23), 15897–15907

22.  Xiwen Jia†, Stephanie J Zhang, Lijun Zhou, Jack W Szostak* (2024) Constraints on the emergence of RNA through non-templated primer extension with mixtures of potentially prebiotic nucleotides. Nucleic Acids Res.,52 (10), 5451-5464.

21. Zachary R Cohen†, Dian Ding, Lijun Zhou, Saurja DasGupta, Sebastian Haas, Kimberly P Sinclair, Zoe R Todd, Roy A Black, Jack W Szostak*, David C Catling* (2024) Natural soda lakes provide compatible conditions for RNA and membrane function that could have enabled the origin of life. PNAS Nexus, 3 (3), page084.

20. Ding, D.†, Fang, Z.†, Kim, S. C., O’Flaherty, D. K., Jia, X., Stone, T. B., Zhou, L.*, & Szostak, J. W.* (2024). Unusual Base Pair between Two 2-Thiouridines and Its Implication for Nonenzymatic RNA Copying. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146(6), 3861–3871. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c11158

19. Ding, D.†, Zhou, L.†, Mittal, S.†, & Szostak, J. W.* (2023). Experimental Tests of the Virtual Circular Genome Model for Nonenzymatic RNA Replication. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 145(13), 7504–7515. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c00612

18. Ding, D.†, Zhou, L.†, Giurgiu, C., & Szostak, J. W.* (2022). Kinetic explanations for the sequence biases observed in the nonenzymatic copying of RNA templates. Nucleic Acids Research, 50(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab1202

17. Zhou, L.†, Ding, D.†, & Szostak, J. W.* (2021). The virtual circular genome model for primordial RNA replication. RNA, 27(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1261/rna.077693.120

16. Kim, S. C.†, O’Flaherty, D. K., Giurgiu, C., Zhou, L., & Szostak, J. W.* (2021). The Emergence of RNA from the Heterogeneous Products of Prebiotic Nucleotide Synthesis. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 143(9), 3267–3279. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c12955

15. Zhou, L.†, O’Flaherty, D. K.†, & Szostak, J. W.* (2020a). Assembly of a Ribozyme Ligase from Short Oligomers by Nonenzymatic Ligation. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(37), 15961–15965. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c06722

14. Zhou, L.†, O’Flaherty, D. K.†, & Szostak, J. W.* (2020b). Template-Directed Copying of RNA by Non-enzymatic Ligation. Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English), 59(36), 15682–15687. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202004934

13. Kim, S. C.†, Zhou, L., Zhang, W., O’Flaherty, D. K., Rondo-Brovetto, V., & Szostak, J. W.* (2020). A Model for the Emergence of RNA from a Prebiotically Plausible Mixture of Ribonucleotides, Arabinonucleotides, and 2′-Deoxynucleotides. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(5), 2317–2326. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b11239

12. Zhou, L.†, Kim, S. C., Ho, K. H., O’Flaherty, D. K., Giurgiu, C., Wright, T. H., & Szostak, J. W.* (2019). Non-enzymatic primer extension with strand displacement. eLife, 8, e51888. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.51888

11. Wright, T. H.†, Giurgiu, C.†, Zhang, W., Radakovic, A., O’Flaherty, D. K., Zhou, L., & Szostak, J. W.* (2019). Prebiotically Plausible “Patching” of RNA Backbone Cleavage through a 3′–5′ Pyrophosphate Linkage. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141(45), 18104–18112. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b08237

10. Lelyveld, V. S.†, O’Flaherty, D. K., Zhou, L., Izgu, E. C., & Szostak, J. W.* (2019). DNA polymerase activity on synthetic N3′→P5′ phosphoramidate DNA templates. Nucleic Acids Research, 47(17), 8941–8949. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz707

9. O’Flaherty, D. K.†, Zhou, L.†, & Szostak, J. W.* (2019). Nonenzymatic Template-Directed Synthesis of Mixed-Sequence 3′-NP-DNA up to 25 Nucleotides Long Inside Model Protocells. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141(26), 10481–10488. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b04858

8. Liu, H.†, Li, L.†, Nedelcu, D., Hall, Q., Zhou, L., Wang, W., Yu, Y., Kaplan, J. M.*, & Hu, Z.* (2019). Heterodimerization of UNC-13/RIM regulates synaptic vesicle release probability but not priming in C. elegans. eLife, 8, e40585. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.40585

7. Kim, S. C.†, O’Flaherty, D. K.†, Zhou, L.†, Lelyveld, V. S., & Szostak, J. W.* (2018). Inosine, but none of the 8-oxo-purines, is a plausible component of a primordial version of RNA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(52), 13318–13323. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814367115

6. Zhang, W.†, Tam, C. P., Zhou, L., Oh, S. S., Wang, J., & Szostak, J. W.* (2018). Structural Rationale for the Enhanced Catalysis of Nonenzymatic RNA Primer Extension by a Downstream Oligonucleotide. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(8), 2829–2840. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b11750

5. Tam, C. P.†, Zhou, L.†, Fahrenbach, A. C., Zhang, W., Walton, T., & Szostak, J. W.* (2018). Synthesis of a Nonhydrolyzable Nucleotide Phosphoroimidazolide Analogue That Catalyzes Nonenzymatic RNA Primer Extension. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(2), 783–792. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b11623

4. Zhou, L.†, Zhou, Y.†, Hang, J., Wan, R., Lu, G., Yan, C., & Shi, Y.* (2014). Crystal structure and biochemical analysis of the heptameric Lsm1-7 complex. Cell Research, 24(4), 497–500. https://doi.org/10.1038/cr.2014.18

3. Zhou, L.†, Hang, J.†, Zhou, Y., Wan, R., Lu, G., Yin, P., Yan, C., & Shi, Y.* (2014). Crystal structures of the Lsm complex bound to the 3′ end sequence of U6 small nuclear RNA. Nature, 506(7486), 116–120. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12803

2. Gao, X.†, Zhou, L.†, Jiao, X., Lu, F., Yan, C., Zeng, X., Wang, J., & Shi, Y.* (2010). Mechanism of substrate recognition and transport by an amino acid antiporter. Nature, 463(7282), 828–832. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08741

1. Gao, X.†, Lu, F.†, Zhou, L.†, Dang, S., Sun, L., Li, X., Wang, J., & Shi, Y.* (2009). Structure and Mechanism of an Amino Acid Antiporter. Science, 324(5934), 1565–1568. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1173654

* Corresponding Author

† First Author(s)