α-Lactalbumin from bovine milk

α-Lactalbumin is a small, globular, whey protein that has been found in all milk studied to date. It is a metalloprotein of approximately 14 kDa produced in the mammary glands.

α-Lactalbumin from bovine milk is suitable for use:

• as an electrophoresis marker, with a molar mass of approximately 14,200Da
• in a study to investigate selective binding of proteins on charged surface iron oxide nanoparticles via reverse charge parity model

α-Lactalbumin was used in the reduction of the antigenicity of whey proteins by lactic acid fermentation.

α-Lactalbumin consists of a single polypeptide chain with 8 cysteines which form disulfide bridges. α-Lactalbumin binds several metal ions, including calcium, which is thought to play a role in the regeneration of native α-lactalbumin from the reduced, denatured form. α-Lactalbumin also has a distinct zinc binding site that is thought to play a role in the binding of the lactose synthase complex. The mature protein consists of 123 amino acid residues (14 kD), and it has a three-dimensional structure with 1.7 Angstrom resolution, demonstrating four a-helices and a triple stranded antiparallel β-sheet.

Alters the substrate specificity of galactosyltransferase to increase the rate of lactose formation; the complex of galactosyltransferase and α-lactalbumin is called lactose synthase.

Alters the substrate specificity of galactosyltransferase to increase the rate of lactose formation; the complex of galactosyltransferase and α-lactalbumin is called lactose synthase. Site-directed mutagenesis of Asp⁸⁷ or Asp⁸⁸ to Ala completely abolishes the strong calcium binding affinity and reduces the stimulation of lactose synthase to <3.5% of the maximal rate.