Antifreeze protein NMR sensor to detect water molecular reorientation in the surface of ice

Effect of Type I Antifreeze Proteins on the Freezing and Melting Processes of Cryoprotective Solutions Studied by Site-Directed Spin Labeling Technique

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) protect organisms living in subzero environments from freezing injury, which render them potential applications for cryopreservation of living cells, organs, and tissues. Cryoprotective agents (CPAs), such as glycerol and propylene glycol, have been used as ingredients to treat cellular tissues and organs to prevent ice crystal’s formation at low temperatures. To assess AFP’s function in CPA solutions, we have the applied site-directed spin labeling technique to a Type I AFP. A two-step process to prevent bulk freezing of the CPA solutions was observed by the cryo-photo microscopy, i.e., (1) thermodynamic freezing point depression by the CPAs; and (2) inhibition to the growth of seed ice crystals by the AFP. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments were also carried out from room temperature to 97 K, and vice versa. The EPR results indicate that the spin labeled AFP bound to ice surfaces, and inhibit the growths of ice through the bulk freezing processes in the CPA solutions. The ice-surface bound AFP in the frozen matrices could also prevent the formation of large ice crystals during the melting processes of the solutions. Our study illustrates that AFPs can play an active role in CPA solutions for cryopreservation applications.

Mechanisms of antifreeze proteins investigated via the site-directed spin labeling technique

The site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) technique was used to examine the antifreeze mechanisms of type-I antifreeze proteins (AFPs). The effects on the growth of seed ice crystals by the spin-label groups attached to different side chains of the AFPs were observed, and the states of water molecules surrounding the spin-label groups were probed via analyses of variable-temperature (VT) dependent electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. The first set of experiments revealed the antifreeze activities of the spin-labeled AFPs at the microscopic level, while the second set of experiments displayed those at the molecular level. The experimental results confirmed the putative ice-binding surface (IBS) of type-I AFPs. The VT EPR spectra indicate that type-I AFPs can inhibit the nucleation of seed ice crystals down to ~ - 20 °C in their aqueous solutions. Thus, the present authors believe that AFPs protect organisms from freezing damage in two ways: (1) inhibiting the nucleation of seed ice crystals, and (2) hindering the growth of seed ice crystals once they have formed. The first mechanism should play a more significant role in protecting against freezing damage among organisms living in cold environments. The VT EPR spectra also revealed that liquid-like water molecules existed around the spin-labeled non-ice-binding side chains of the AFPs frozen within the ice matrices, and ice surrounding the spin-label groups melted at subzero temperatures during the heating process. This manuscript concludes with the proposed model of antifreeze mechanisms of AFPs based on the experimental results.

Revealing Surface Waters on an Antifreeze Protein by Fusion Protein Crystallography Combined with Molecular Dynamic Simulations

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) adsorb to ice through an extensive, flat, relatively hydrophobic surface. It has been suggested that this ice-binding site (IBS) organizes surface waters into an ice-like clathrate arrangement that matches and fuses to the quasi-liquid layer on the ice surface. On cooling, these waters join the ice lattice and freeze the AFP to its ligand. Evidence for the generality of this binding mechanism is limited because AFPs tend to crystallize with their IBS as a preferred protein-protein contact surface, which displaces some bound waters. Type III AFP is a 7 kDa globular protein with an IBS made up two adjacent surfaces. In the crystal structure of the most active isoform (QAE1), the part of the IBS that docks to the primary prism plane of ice is partially exposed to solvent and has clathrate waters present that match this plane of ice. The adjacent IBS, which matches the pyramidal plane of ice, is involved in protein-protein crystal contacts with few surface waters. Here we have changed the protein-protein contacts in the ice-binding region by crystallizing a fusion of QAE1 to maltose-binding protein. In this 1.9 Å structure, the IBS that fits the pyramidal plane of ice is exposed to solvent. By combining crystallography data with MD simulations, the surface waters on both sides of the IBS were revealed and match well with the target ice planes. The waters on the pyramidal plane IBS were loosely constrained, which might explain why other isoforms of type III AFP that lack the prism plane IBS are less active than QAE1. The AFP fusion crystallization method can potentially be used to force the exposure to solvent of the IBS on other AFPs to reveal the locations of key surface waters.

Threonine side chain conformational population distribution of a type I antifreeze protein on interacting with ice surface studied via ¹³C-¹⁵N dynamic REDOR NMR

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) provide survival mechanism for species living in subzero environments by lowering the freezing points of their body fluids effectively. The mechanism is attributed to AFPs' ability to inhibit the growth of seed ice crystals through adsorption on specific ice surfaces. We have applied dynamic REDOR (Rotational Echo Double Resonance) solid state NMR to study the threonine (Thr) side chain conformational population distribution of a site-specific Thr ¹³C(γ) and ¹⁵N doubly labeled type I AFP in frozen aqueous solution. It is known that the Thr side chains together with those of the 4th and 8th Alanine (Ala) residues commencing from the Thrs (the 1st) in the four 11-residue repeat units form the peptide ice-binding surface. The conformational information can provide structural insight with regard to how the AFP side chains structurally interact with the ice surface. χ-squared statistical analysis of the experimental REDOR data in fitting the theoretically calculated dynamic REDOR fraction curves indicates that when the AFP interacted with the ice surface in the frozen AFP solution, the conformations of the Thr side chains changed from the anti-conformations, as in the AFP crystal structure, to partial population in the anti-conformation and partial population in the two gauche conformations. This change together with the structural analysis indicates that the simultaneous interactions of the methyl groups and the hydroxyl groups of the Thr side chains with the ice surface could be the reason for the conformational population change. The analysis of the theoretical dynamic REDOR fraction curves shows that the set of experimental REDOR data may fit a number of theoretical curves with different population distributions. Thus, other structural information is needed to assist in determining the conformational population distribution of the Thr side chains.