Contact Information
524 Burrill Hall
407 S Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Description
Role of Glycopeptide and Peptide Antifreezes in Inhibition of Ice Crystal Growth and Recrystallization
Our research program involves studies on the role of antifreeze glycopeptides and peptides (AFGPs and AFPs) in the freezing avoidance of cold-water fishes. Specific aspects are studies of the mechanism of AFGPs and AFPs in inhibiting ice crystal growth and recrystallization, primary and 3-dimensional structures of AFGPs and AFPs to determine structure-function relationships, the physiology of AFGPs and AFPs, and the organization and expression of the antifreeze gene. The use of antifreeze proteins in preventing the growth of large ice crystals (inhibition of recrystallization) in frozen foods, and cryomedial preservation are long term goals.
Education
Ph.D. Stanford University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor Emeritus, Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior
Recent Publications
DeVries, A. L. (2024). Identifying Ice-Binding Proteins in Nature. In R. Drori, & C. Stevens (Eds.), Ice Binding Proteins: Methods and Protocols (pp. 3-23). (Methods in Molecular Biology; Vol. 2730). Humana Press Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3503-2_1
Schwidetzky, R., de Almeida Ribeiro, I., Bothen, N., Backes, A. T., DeVries, A. L., Bonn, M., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Molinero, V., & Meister, K. (2023). Functional aggregation of cell-free proteins enables fungal ice nucleation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(46), Article e2303243120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2303243120
Sun, Y., Maltseva, D., Liu, J., Hooker, T., Mailänder, V., Ramløv, H., Devries, A. L., Bonn, M., & Meister, K. (2022). Ice Recrystallization Inhibition Is Insufficient to Explain Cryopreservation Abilities of Antifreeze Proteins. Biomacromolecules, 23(3), 1214-1220. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.1c01477
Sun, Y., Giubertoni, G., Bakker, H. J., Liu, J., Wagner, M., Ng, D. Y. W., Devries, A. L., & Meister, K. (2021). Disaccharide Residues are Required for Native Antifreeze Glycoprotein Activity. Biomacromolecules, 22(6), 2595-2603. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00313
Devries, A. L. (2020). Fish antifreeze proteins. In Antifreeze Proteins Volume 1: Environment, Systematics and Evolution (pp. 85-129). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41929-5_5