Ice-philicity, Ice Binding, and Ice Recrystallization Inhibition By Antifreeze Proteins

Antifreeze proteins enable cold-adapted organisms to manage ice crystal growth by attaching directly to crystal surfaces. This surface binding halts crystal expansion and prevents recrystallization, a destructive process where larger ice crystals consume smaller ones in frozen foods and cryopreserved tissues. The research addresses two unresolved issues concerning these proteins. First, locating an ice-binding site remains difficult because these regions often lack obvious structural features, requiring laborious residue-by-residue mutagenesis. Second, while antifreeze proteins are known to halt the growth and melting of individual crystals, the mechanism by which they suppress recrystallization throughout a collective population of crystals remains unknown.