Difference between revisions of "Team:Queens Canada/Background"
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<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Notebook">Notebook</a></li> | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Notebook">Notebook</a></li> | ||
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<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Background">Background</a></li> | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Background">Background</a></li> | ||
<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Modeling">Modeling</a></li> | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Modeling">Modeling</a></li> | ||
− | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/AFP_Scaffold"> | + | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/AFP_Scaffold"> The Ice Queen</a></li> |
− | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Circ_AFP"> | + | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Queens_Canada/Circ_AFP"> Icefinity</a></li> |
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<h1>BACKGROUND INFORMATION</h1> | <h1>BACKGROUND INFORMATION</h1> | ||
− | <p> | + | <p align="center">QGEM this year centered around the topic of protein engineering. We wanted to give some background information on the proteins and complexes we worked on. </p> |
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<h2>AFP Function</h2> | <h2>AFP Function</h2> | ||
<p>AFPs are found in organisms such as the ocean pout, where they act to inhibit growth of ice crystals below a solution's freezing point. Ice inhibition occurs when multiple AFPs bind to the same ice crystal, and small curvatures are created along the ice surface. It is then energetically unfavorable for more water molecules to bind to the ice, thereby inhibiting growth of the ice crystal.Therefore the presence of AFPs requires the temperature of a solution to be below the original melting-freezing point for further ice growth. Because AFPs lower only the freezing point, a gap between the melting and freezing points is created, which is known as the thermal hysteresis (TH) gap. A TH gap can thus be used to identify novel anti-freeze proteins, and the size of the TH gap can provide quantitative assessment of known AFP activity. </p> | <p>AFPs are found in organisms such as the ocean pout, where they act to inhibit growth of ice crystals below a solution's freezing point. Ice inhibition occurs when multiple AFPs bind to the same ice crystal, and small curvatures are created along the ice surface. It is then energetically unfavorable for more water molecules to bind to the ice, thereby inhibiting growth of the ice crystal.Therefore the presence of AFPs requires the temperature of a solution to be below the original melting-freezing point for further ice growth. Because AFPs lower only the freezing point, a gap between the melting and freezing points is created, which is known as the thermal hysteresis (TH) gap. A TH gap can thus be used to identify novel anti-freeze proteins, and the size of the TH gap can provide quantitative assessment of known AFP activity. </p> | ||
− | <p>Like their structures the TH activity, or functionality, of AFPs varies greatly. For both components of our project, QGEM chose to study a moderately active Type III AFP from the ocean pout fish. A Type III AFP was selected because of its globular structure, ideal for circularization, and its well-characterized ice-binding surface | + | <p>Like their structures the TH activity, or functionality, of AFPs varies greatly. For both components of our project, QGEM chose to study a moderately active Type III AFP from the ocean pout fish. A Type III AFP was selected because of its globular structure, ideal for circularization, and its well-characterized ice-binding surface. The IBS of the ocean pout AFP spans two faces of the protein and is composed of mainly alanine and threonine amino acids. Additionally, the Type III AFP was chosen because of the close proximity of the N and C termini of the protein, which made it an ideal candidate for protein circularization. </p> |
<h2>Applications</h2> | <h2>Applications</h2> | ||
<p>Ice growth inhibition by AFPs is already being applied commercially and experimentally in various industries. Commercially, AFPs are used in frozen foods such as ice creams to maintain a smooth creamy texture. However, scientists have focused on optimizing AFP function through synthetic biology and protein engineering for a variety of applications. The oil and gas industry is investigating the use of AFPs, some of which have been found to inhibit the formation of gas hydrates which cause safety and operational challenges. There are also attempts to genetically alter frost sensitive crops to produce AFPs. Numerous experiments are also applying AFPs for cryopreservation of cells and organs. Our project focuses on improving these current experiments using AFPs in cryopreservation.</p> | <p>Ice growth inhibition by AFPs is already being applied commercially and experimentally in various industries. Commercially, AFPs are used in frozen foods such as ice creams to maintain a smooth creamy texture. However, scientists have focused on optimizing AFP function through synthetic biology and protein engineering for a variety of applications. The oil and gas industry is investigating the use of AFPs, some of which have been found to inhibit the formation of gas hydrates which cause safety and operational challenges. There are also attempts to genetically alter frost sensitive crops to produce AFPs. Numerous experiments are also applying AFPs for cryopreservation of cells and organs. Our project focuses on improving these current experiments using AFPs in cryopreservation.</p> |
Latest revision as of 02:36, 17 September 2015