The adaptation of organisms to sub-zero temperatures is an intriguing problem in biology and biotechnology. The ice-binding antifreeze proteins are known to be responsible for the adaptation, but the mechanism of their action is still far from being clear. Here we show that: (i) in contrast to common belief, ice-binding proteins do not reduce the water freezing temperature and even raise (1) the ice melting point; (ii) at sub-zero temperatures (to ≈ -30°C), ice can be formed only on ice-binding surfaces, but, for kinetic reasons, not in bulk water; (iii) living cells have some large surfaces, which can bind the antifreeze proteins. These facts allow suggesting that the task of antifreeze proteins is not to bind to the ice crystals already formed in the cell and stop their growth or rearrangement, but to bind to those cell surfaces where the ice nuclei can form, and thus to prevent ice formation completely.

中文翻译：

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抗冻蛋白生物活性机制的新观点

生物体对零度以下温度的适应是生物学和生物技术中一个有趣的问题。已知冰结合抗冻蛋白负责适应，但其作用机制仍远未明确。在这里我们表明：（i）与普遍看法相反，冰结合蛋白不会降低水的冻结温度，甚至会提高（1）冰的熔点；(ii) 在低于零的温度下（至 ≈ -30°C），冰只能在结冰的表面上形成，但由于动力学原因，不能在散装水中形成；(iii) 活细胞有一些大的表面，可以结合抗冻蛋白。这些事实表明，抗冻蛋白的任务不是与细胞中已经形成的冰晶结合并阻止它们的生长或重排，