?-Lactoglobulin was used in the identification of the genetic variants of ?-casein in milk by isoelectric focusing.
Biochem/physiol Actions
A member of the lipocalin family, ?Lg is a small protein of 162 amino acids with a molecular mass of ?18,400 Da. It has an eight-stranded ?-barrel (strands A-H) succeeded by a three-turn ?-helix and a final ?-strand (strand I) that forms part of the dimerization interface.
General description
Milk from dairy cows contains the protein ?-lactoglobulin (BLG). It naturally occurs in a number of genetic variants, and the most prevalent bovine variants are BLG A and BLG B.