Hofmeister effects of common monovalent salts on the beetle antifreeze protein activity

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) noncolligatively depress the freezing point of a solution and produce a difference between the melting and freezing points termed thermal hysteresis (TH). While the mechanism of the enhancement effect is not well understood, various low-molecular-mass solutes including neutral salts have been identified to enhance the TH activities of AFPs. Here, the effect of monovalent salts on salting out an AFP from the beetle Dendroides canadensis (DAFP-1) on the ice was treated using a simple classical theory, and the relationship between the TH activity and the salt concentration was developed. The TH activities of DAFP-1 in the presence of the series of monovalent salts were assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the salting-out constants of DAFP-1 by these salts were determined. This study demonstrates an indirect way to determine the salting-out constants of AFPs by these salts. The results suggest that the Hofmeister effect is a potential mechanism for the TH enhancement effects of some common monovalent salts.