Cloning and sequencing of a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid coding for a bovine alpha s1-casein A from mammary tissue of a homozygous B variant cow

The sequence of porcine alpha s1-casein cDNA: evidence for protein variants generated by altered RNA splicing

A cDNA library was constructed from mRNA isolated from lactating porcine mammary gland and screened with a bovine alpha s1-casein cDNA clone. Three classes of cDNA isolated varied in the number of bases within the coding region. The full length porcine alpha s1-casein cDNA is 1124bp and codes a preprotein of 206 amino acids. The other two classes of alpha s1-casein cDNA lacked 18bp and 60bp respectively when compared to the 1124-bp cDNA sequence. PCR amplification confirmed the presence of these sequences in total RNA. These differences appear to be due to altered RNA splicing.

Nomenclature of the Proteins of Cows’ Milk—Sixth Revision

This report of the American Dairy Science Association Committee on the Nomenclature, Classification, and Methodology of Milk Proteins reviews changes in the nomenclature of milk proteins necessitated by recent advances of our knowledge of milk proteins. Identification of major caseins and whey proteins continues to be based upon their primary structures. Nomenclature of the immunoglobulins consistent with new international standards has been developed, and all bovine immunoglobulins have been characterized at the molecular level. Other significant findings related to nomenclature and protein methodology are elucidation of several new genetic variants of the major milk proteins, establishment by sequencing techniques and sequence alignment of the bovine caseins and whey proteins as the reference point for the nomenclature of all homologous milk proteins, completion of crystallographic studies for major whey proteins, and advances in the study of lactoferrin, allowing it to be added to the list of fully characterized milk proteins.

Alternative nonallelic deletion is constitutive of ruminant alpha(s1)-casein

Multiple forms of alpha(s1)-casein were identified in the four major ruminant species by structural characterization of the protein fraction. While alpha(s1)-casein phenotypes were constituted by a mixture of at least seven molecular forms in ovine and caprine species, there were only two forms in bovine and water buffalo species. In ovine and caprine forms the main component corresponded to the 199-residue-long form, and the deleted proteins differed from the complete one by the absence of peptides 141-148, 110-117, or Gln78, or a combination of such deletions. The deleted segments corresponded to the sequence regions encoded by exons 13 and 16, and by the first triplet of exon 11 (CAG), suggesting that the occurrence of the short protein forms is due to alternative skipping, as previously demonstrated for some caprine and ovine phenotypes. The alternative deletion of Gln78 in alpha(s1)-casein, the only form common to the milk of all the species examined and located in a sequence region joining the polar phosphorylation cluster and the hydrophobic C-terminal domain of the protein, may play a functional role in the stabilization of the milk micelle structure.

Antipeptide Antibodies as Analytical Tools To Discriminate among Bovine alpha(s1)-Casein Components

Polyclonal antibodies raised against synthetic peptides reproducing sequence stretches of bovine alpha(s1)-casein were used as probes to discriminate within the alpha(s1)-casein fraction of bovine milk and cheese. A minor alpha(s1)-casein component, selectively recognized by an antisera directed against the bovine 139-149 alpha(s1)-casein sequence, was found to be a C-terminally truncated alpha(s1)-casein form. This component coeluted with the main alpha(s1)- and alpha(s2)-casein by anion-exchange chromatography of whole casein, whereas by RP-HPLC it eluted with alpha(s2)-casein only. Similarly to the main alpha(s1)-casein, the C-terminally truncated form was hydrolyzed in vitro by chymosin and early in the cheese-making.

Differential splicing of pre-messenger RNA produces multiple forms of mature caprine alpha(s1)-casein

The identity of multiple forms of caprine alpha(s1)-casein in variants A, B, and C has been determined by structural characterisation using mass spectrometry, automated Edman degradation and peptide mapping. Mature goat alpha(s1)-casein exists as a mixture of at least four molecular species which differ in peptide chain length. The main component corresponds to the 199-residues form already described. The other three, in lesser amounts, were shorter forms of alpha(s1)-casein and differed for the deleted peptides 141-148, as shown previously for ovine alpha(s1)-casein, peptide 110-117, or Gln78. Analysis of alpha(s1)-casein mRNA from milk somatic cells demonstrated that these forms originated from skipping events at the level of exon 13 (codifying for peptide 110-117) and 16 (codifying for peptide 141-148) and from the presence of a cryptic splice site within exon 11 (whose first CAG triplet encodes Gln78) during primary transcript processing. The finding of these splicing abnormalities in the three common variants A, B, and C suggests that this is a general feature of alpha(s1)-casein in goat. A further source of heterogeneity of caprine alpha(s1)-casein was identified in the discrete phosphorylation of seryl residues. Eight serine residues (at positions 44, 46, 64 to 68 and 75) are fully phosphorylated (except in variant A because of the replacement Glu77-->Gln which prevents phosphorylation of Ser75). Conversely, Ser115 and Ser41 are phosphorylated only to about 50% and 20%, respectively. Ser12, although located in a consensus triplet, is never phosphorylated, similarly to the ovine alpha(s1)-casein variants. These results confirm that there are stabilised mechanisms of simultaneous synthesis of alpha(s1)-casein at different length and of post-translational modification in both caprine and ovine species.

Primary structure of ovine alpha s1-caseins: localization of phosphorylation sites and characterization of genetic variants A, C and D

The primary structures of ovine alpha s1-casein variants A, C and D (formerly called Welsh variant) were determined. Separation of variants from whole casein was achieved using a fast and reliable reversed-phase HPLC method. Extended structural characterization of the purified proteins using electrospray mass spectrometry, automated Edman degradation and peptide mapping by means of HPLC-fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry demonstrated that the mature protein was a mixture of two molecular species that differed in the deletion of residues 141-148 and were therefore 199 and 191 residues long respectively. The 199 residue peptide chain, which accounted for approximately 80% of the entire translated alpha s1-casein, was as long as its caprine and bovine counterparts, and had a 98 and 89% degree of identity with those two proteins respectively. Nine serine residues (positions 12, 44, 46, 64 to 68 and 75) were fully phosphorylated in alpha s1-casein A, whereas Ser115 and Ser41 were phosphorylated by approximately 50 and approximately 20% respectively. The differences between the three genetic variants A, C and D were simple silent substitutions, which however involved the degree to which the protein was phosphorylated. Variant C differed from variant A in the substitution Ser13-->Pro13 which determined the loss of the phosphate group on site 12 of the protein chain, SerP12-->Ser12. A further substitution, SerP68-->Asn68 caused the disappearance of both phosphate groups in the phosphorylated residues Ser64 and Ser66 in variant D; in this last casein variant there was no evidence of phosphorylation at Ser41.

A single point mutation results in A allele-specific exon skipping in the bovine alpha s1-casein mRNA

Bovine alpha s1-casein (alpha s1-CN) allele A is found in low allelic frequencies among different cattle breeds and is known to be characterized by the deletion of amino-acid residues 14 to 26 of the mature protein (as defined via the most common allele B), and a corresponding deletion of 39 bp from its cDNA. Based upon the genomic sequence of bovine alpha s1-CN [Koczan et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 19 (1991) 5591-5596], this allelic deviation can be interpreted as an absence of exon 4 from the A allele mRNA and protein product. We demonstrate that this allelic aberration is not caused by a genomic deletion across the exon-4 DNA, but is correlated with a single point mutation at position +6 in the splice donor sequence distal of exon 4, which results in upstream exon skipping during the serial splice reactions of the A allele alpha s1-CN pre-mRNA. The A-allele-specific mutation at position +6 is able to interrupt the perfect complementarity of the intron-4 splice donor signal (positions one to eight) with U1-snRNA, which may then no longer be able to compensate for a rather weak exon-4 upstream splice acceptor sequence in facilitating the initial binding of U2 auxiliary factor/65-kDa (U2AF65) to that polypyrimidine tract. This interpretation of the exon skipping mechanism in alpha s1-CN allele A is in agreement with similar results obtained [Hoffmann and Grabowski, Genes Dev. 6 (1992) 2554-2568] in an analysis of the rat preprotachykinin-encoding gene and in vitro experiments.

Structure and function of milk protein genes

Interspecies comparisons of cDNA and mosaic milk protein genes have confirmed their high rate of evolution, but the overall gene organization has been conserved. The three Ca-sensitive casein genes, which share common motifs in the promoter region and contain similar sequences that encode signal peptide and multiple phosphorylation sites, probably derived from a common ancestor. alpha s1- and alpha s2-casein genes, divided into many small exons, undergo complex splicing, and the deleted caseins arise from exon skipping. The four bovine casein genes are clustered on 200 kb of chromosome 6. alpha-Lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin pseudogenes occur in ruminants. Study of the expression of native and modified milk protein genes in mammary cell lines and transgenic animals and DNA footprinting have shown the occurrence of important regulatory motifs in the proximal 5' flanking region, including one recognized by a specific mammary nuclear factor. Good stage- and tissue-specific expression has been obtained in transgenic animals with milk protein genes having less than a 3-kb 5' flanking region. Better knowledge of both the structure and function of milk protein genes, which has already allowed the use of powerful techniques for the rapid identification of alleles, offers the potential for the genetic modification of milk composition.

Calcium-induced associations of the caseins: thermodynamic linkage of calcium binding to colloidal stability of casein micelles

The caseins occur in milk as colloidal complexes of protein aggregates, calcium, and inorganic phosphate. As determined by electron microscopy, these particles are spherical and have approximately a 650 A radius (casein micelles). In the absence of calcium, the protein aggregates themselves (submicelles) have been shown to result from mainly hydrophobic interactions. The fractional concentration of stable colloidal casein micelles can be obtained in a calcium caseinate solution by centrifugation at 1500 g. Thus, the amount of stable colloid present with varying Ca2+ concentrations can be determined and then analyzed by application of equations derived from Wyman's Thermodynamic Linkage Theory. Ca(2+)-induced colloid stability profiles were obtained experimentally for model micelles consisting of only alpha s1- (a calcium insoluble casein) and the stabilizing protein kappa-casein, eliminating the complications arising from beta- and minor casein forms. Two distinct genetic variants alpha s1-A and B were used. Analysis of alpha s1-A colloid stability profiles yielded a precipitation (salting-out) constant k1, as well as colloid stability (salting-in) parameter k2. No variations of k1 or k2 were found with increasing amounts of kappa-casein. From the variation of the amount of colloidal casein capable of being stabilized vs. amount of added kappa-casein an association constant of 4 L/g could be calculated for the complexation of alpha s1-A and kappa-casein. For the alpha s1-B and kappa-casein micelles, an additional Ca(2+)-dependent colloidal destabilization parameter, k3, was added to the existing k1 and k2 parameters in order to fully describe this more complex system. Furthermore, the value of k3 decreased with increasing concentration of kappa-casein. These results were analyzed with respect to the specific deletion which occurs in alpha s1-casein A in order to determine the sites responsible for these Ca(2+)-induced quaternary structural effects.

Tertiary and quaternary structural differences between two genetic variants of bovine casein by small-angle X-ray scattering

The casein complexes of bovine milk consist of four major protein fractions, alpha s1, alpha s2, beta, and kappa. Colloidal particles of casein (termed micelles) contain inorganic calcium and phosphate; they are very roughly spherical with an average radius of 650 A. Removal of Ca2+ leads to the formation of smaller protein aggregates (submicelles) with an average radius of 94 A. Two genetic variants, A and B, of the predominant fraction, alpha s1-casein, result in milks with markedly different physical properties, such as solubility and heat stability. To investigate the molecular basis for these differences, small-angle X-ray scattering was performed on the respective colloidal micelles and submicelles. Scattering curves for submicelles of both variants showed multiple Gaussian character; data for the B variant were previously interpreted in terms of two concentric regions of different electron density, i.e., a "compact" core and a relatively "loose" shell. For the submicelle of A, there was a third Gaussian, reflecting a negative contribution due to interparticle interference. Molecular parameters for submicelles of both A and B are in agreement with hydrodynamic data in the literature. Data for the micelles, for which scattering yields cross-sectional information, were fitted by a sum of three Gaussians for both variants; for these, the corresponding two lower radii of gyration represent the two concentric regions of the submicelles, while the third reflects the average packing of submicelles within the micellar cross section. Most of the molecular parameters obtained showed small but consistent differences between A and B, but for submicelles within the micelle several differences were particularly notable: A has a greater molecular weight for the "compact" region of the constituent submicelle (82,000 vs 60,000) and a much greater submicellar packing number (6:1 vs 3:1). Reasons for these and other differences are to be sought in sequence differences and in differences in calcium-binding sites and charge distribution.

Milk protein typing of bovine mammary gland tissue used to generate a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid library

The milk protein genotype of a mammary gland tissue that was used to generate a cDNA library at the University of California, Davis was typed by PAGE. Casein and whey proteins were extracted from the mammary tissue and typed utilizing fast mini-gel procedures that provide excellent resolution of the milk proteins. The genotype of the mammary tissue was classified as kappa-casein AB, beta-casein A2A1, alpha s1-casein BB, beta-lactoglobulin AA, and alpha-lactalbumin BB. The genes kappa-casein A, beta-casein A2, beta-lactoglobulin A, and alpha-lactalbumin B that have been cloned from this cDNA library coincide with those in the above tissue genotype with the exception of the recently reported cloning of the alpha s1-casein A gene. The gene frequencies for the casein genetic variants for three breeds of dairy cattle is presented and discussed in relation to the low frequency (.3%) of the alpha s1-casein A in the population.