Antifreeze Proteins by Solid-state NMR: Methods and Applications

Abstract

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of ice-binding proteins that help cold-adapted organisms survive at subzero temperatures. Although the solution and crystal structures of many AFPs are known, solid-state NMR spectroscopy remains one of the few techniques with which their functional, ice-bound state can be studied at atomic resolution. This article describes solid-state NMR methods that investigate the protein–ice interaction of AFPs, methods that measure their remaining hydration shell, and methods that monitor the structural changes of AFPs on ice binding. Applications of these methods on type I and type III AFPs are presented. Keywords: frozen solution; protein hydration; protein binding; ice