Local ice melting by an antifreeze protein |
| |
Authors: | Calvaresi Matteo Höfinger Siegfried Zerbetto Francesco |
| |
Institution: | Dipartimento di Chimica G. Ciamician, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. matteo.calvaresi@studio.unibo.it |
| |
Abstract: | Antifreeze proteins, AFP, impede freezing of bodily fluids and damaging of cellular tissues by low temperatures. Adsorption-inhibition mechanisms have been developed to explain their functioning. Using in silico Molecular Dynamics, we show that type I AFP can also induce melting of the local ice surface. Simulations of antifreeze-positive and antifreeze-negative mutants show a clear correlation between melting induction and antifreeze activity. The presence of local melting adds a function to type I AFPs that is unique to these proteins. It may also explain some apparently conflicting experimental results where binding to ice appears both quasipermanent and reversible. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|