Antifreeze Proteins and Glycoproteins

抗冻蛋白和糖蛋白使许多种类的鱼能够在零度以下的海洋中生存，而不会结冰。这些防冻剂在冷冻食品工业中有潜在的应用(例如。保持冰淇淋的质地)，医学科学(如冷冻外科)和兽医科学(如。精子的储存)。商业应用受到从鱼中获得的化合物数量的限制，以及对这些蛋白质如何发挥作用的缺乏了解。这项研究将研究天然防冻剂和合成防冻剂如何抑制冰的增长，以便合理设计新的防冻剂，并将确定具有潜在商业应用的新化合物作为低温保护剂。

Antifreeze proteins and glycoproteins permit many species of fish to survive in sub-zero oceans without freezing. These antifreeze compounds have potential applications in the frozen food industry (eg. maintaining the texture of ice cream), medical science (eg., cryosurgery) and veterinary science (eg. storage of sperm). Commercial applications are limited by the amounts of compounds available from fish and the lack of understanding of how these proteins work. This research will study how natural and synthetic antifreezes inhibit ice growth in order to allow the rational design of new antifreezes and will identify new compounds with potential commercial applications as cryoprotectants.