Insight into differences in whey proteome from human and eight dairy animal species for formula humanization

• Published in: Food chemistry 2024-01, Vol.430, p.137076-137076, Article 137076
• Main Authors: Ji, Zhongyuan, Dong, Ruifeng, Du, Qijing, Jiang, Hongning, Fan, Rongbo, Bu, Dengpan, Wang, Jun, Yu, Zhongna, Han, Rongwei, Yang, Yongxin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dairy animal milk; Human milk; Humanization; Proteomics
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137076

•Milk whey proteome between human and eight dairy animals species were compared.•Human milk whey enriched in digestive-enzymes and immune-related proteins.•Lysozyme, Glycam1, and lactoperoxidase were more abundant in specific animal milk.•Differential whey proteins mostly related to the lysosomal and phagocytic pathways. Human breastmilk fulfills the nutritional needs of infants and therefore is the best template for formula. In this study, whey proteins were investigated among human and eight dairy animal species using label-free proteomics approach. Totally, 965 proteins from milk whey were identified and large variations were observed between human and animals. Several proteins, including β-galactosidase, fatty acid synthase, osteopontin, lactoferrin, mannose receptor, and complement C4-A, which are associated with digestion and immune response, exhibited significantly higher levels in human milk whey. Conversely, specific animal milk whey demonstrated elevated abundance of lipocalin 2, lysozyme, and glycosylation-dependent cell adhesion molecule 1. These differential proteins are enriched in complement and coagulation cascades, lysosome, and phagosome pathways. The findings shed light on the variations in the whey proteome composition between human and animal milk, which can contribute to optimizing formula humanization.