α-Casein inhibition mechanism in concanavalin A aggregation process

J Phys Chem B. 2012 Dec 20;116(50):14700-7. doi: 10.1021/jp307417x. Epub 2012 Dec 7.

Abstract

The inhibition of the aggregation in protein solutions is currently a subject of great interest in many research fields, from the study of protein-misfolding related diseases to pharmaceutics, biotechnology, and food science. α(s1)-Casein, one of the four types of caseins, which are the largest protein component of bovine milk, has been found to hinder the aggregation process of several proteins, including the amyloid β-peptide, involved in Alzheimer's disease. To shed light into the mechanisms by which casein exerts this chaperon-like protective action, we studied its effect on the different steps of the aggregation process of concanavalin A, by means of both static and dynamic light scattering, thioflavin T and ANS fluorescence, circular dichroism, and atomic force microscopy. Our results show that casein has a poor effect on the first step of the process leading to the formation of amyloid-like structures. On the contrary, it has a marked effect on the second step of the process, ascribable to clusters condensation and compaction, up to the formation of very large aggregates. Such an effect requires a molar ratio of casein larger than that necessary to inhibit the fibrillogenesis of the amyloid β-peptide, thus, suggesting a different mechanism of interaction of casein, depending on both conformational properties and relative size of the aggregating molecules.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Caseins / pharmacology*
  • Concanavalin A / chemistry*
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Kinetics
  • Protein Multimerization / drug effects*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary

Substances

  • Caseins
  • Concanavalin A