K. Hlouchova

The interplay between peptides and RNA is critical for protoribosome compartmentalization and stability

This paper investigates the role of ribosomal peptides in protoribosome compartmentalization and stability, showing that RNA-protein interactions protect RNA from degradation and influence structural flexibility.

High-throughput selection of human de novo-emerged sORFs with high folding potential

This study identifies human de novo proteins with high folding potential by screening for structural compactness and disorder using FRET and FACS.

Early selection of the amino acid alphabet was adaptively shaped by biophysical constraints of foldability

This study investigates why the modern amino acid alphabet evolved to include 20 canonical amino acids by showing that foldability constraints shaped the selection of early amino acids.

Experimental characterisation of de novoproteins and their unevolved random-sequencecounterparts

The paper experimentally compares de novo proteins and synthetic random-sequence proteins to assess their solubility and structure propensity, finding de novo proteins are more soluble.

In vitro evolution reveals primordial RNA-protein interaction mediated by metal cations

This study uses in vitro evolution to show that RNA-protein interactions in early life could be mediated by metal cations and acidic residues instead of aromatic/basic amino acids.

Enzyme catalysis prior to aromatic residues: reverse engineering of a dephosphoCoA kinase

This study shows that enzyme catalysis can occur without aromatic amino acids by testing variants of dephosphoCoA kinase with reduced amino acid alphabets.