Calorimetric and spectroscopic investigations of β-lactoglobulin upon interaction with copper ion

J Dairy Res. 2012 May;79(2):209-15. doi: 10.1017/S0022029912000167.

Abstract

The effect of copper(II) ions (Cu(+2)) on the structure of β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) was investigated spectroscopically using UV-visible, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) and calorimetrically using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), at different temperatures. Results of the UV-visible studies showed that adding Cu(+2) to β-lg solution caused increasing turbidity, indicative of protein aggregation. It was noticeable that the rate of increasing turbidity was directly proportional to increasing temperature. The far-UV CD studies displayed that the Cu(+2) cannot induce any significant changes in the secondary structures of β-lg at different temperatures. Also, the ITC data indicated that the binding process of Cu(+2) to β-lg is mainly entropically driven. The results highlight that copper ions cause the tertiary structure of β-lg to change and induce a slightly open structure leading to the formation of supramolecular aggregates in β-lg which may result in the reduced allergenicity of β-lg and its increased use in industrial applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Calorimetry
  • Cations, Divalent
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Lactoglobulins / chemistry*
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Cations, Divalent
  • Lactoglobulins
  • Copper