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Remarkably little is known about the mechanism of action of ice nucleation proteins (INPs), although their ability to trigger ice nucleation could be used in a broad variety of applications. We present CD measurements of an insect lipoprotein ice nucleator (LPIN) which show that the lipoproteins consist of a high amount of β-structures (35%). Terahertz absorption spectroscopy is used to probe the influence of the LPIN on the H-bond network dynamics. We observe a small, but significant THz excess, as an indication of an influence on the H-bond network dynamics. When adding the ice nucleation inhibitor sodium borate, this effect is considerably reduced, similar to that observed before for antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs). We propose that myo-inositol, the functional group of phosphatidylinositols, is crucial for the observed change of the H-bond network dynamics of hydration water. This hypothesis is confirmed by additional THz experiments which revealed that the influence of myo-inositol on the hydrogen bond network can be blocked by sodium borate, similar to the case of LPINs. Interestingly, we find a less significant effect when myo-inositol is replaced for chiro- and allo-inositol which underlines the importance of the exact positioning of the OH groups for the interaction with the H-bond network. We propose that a local ordering of water molecules is supporting ice nucleation activity for the LPIN in a similar way to that found for AFP activity in the case of hyperactive insect AFPs.

Ice nucleation of an insect lipoprotein ice nucleator (LPIN) correlates with retardation of the hydrogen bond dynamics at the myo-inositol ring