Water binding in antifreeze proteins and dehydrins

我们经常听说人体是由70%以上的水组成的。现代生活使水看起来几乎和其他液体一样——潮湿而无趣。然而，对科学家来说，水是极其复杂的，它的特殊性质使它成为生命所必需的。我的研究重点是试图了解水如何与蛋白质相互作用。蛋白质是细胞和我们身体的基石和机器，细胞可以形成成千上万种不同版本的蛋白质，用于许多不同的功能。我们将研究两种特定的蛋白质，称为抗冻蛋白，它可以保护许多鱼类，昆虫，植物和细菌免于冻死，以及脱水剂，这是一种植物蛋白质，在脱水时提供保护。防冻蛋白结合并抑制冰的生长，而脱水剂被认为通过结合大量的水和防止蛋白质改变形状来防止脱水过程中的损害。我们将研究这些蛋白质，因为它们都涉及到水（或冰）的结合。了解这些蛋白质中的水结合将为我们了解蛋白质的水结合提供信息，以及水结合可能对蛋白质的重要功能产生的影响。

We often hear how the human body is made up of over 70% water. Modern living has made water seem like almost any other liquid - wet and uninteresting. Yet to scientists water is extremely complex and its special properties make it essential for life. My research focuses on trying to understand how water interacts with proteins. Proteins are the building blocks and machinery of cells and our bodies, where cells can form tens of thousands different versions of proteins for many different functions.       We will examine two specific proteins called antifreeze proteins, which protect a number of fish, insects, plants and bacteria from freezing to death, and dehydrins, which are plant proteins that provide protection during dehydration. Antifreeze proteins bind to and inhibit the growth of ice, while dehydrins are thought to prevent damage during dehydration by binding large amounts of water and preventing proteins from changing shape. We will study these proteins since they both involve the binding of water (or ice). Understanding water binding in these proteins will provide us with information to understand water binding of proteins in general, and the effect water binding may have on important protein functions.