Abstract
The whey protein a-lactalbumin, derived from human milk, has been shown to inhibit proliferation of mammary epithelial cells and rat kidney cells. We have shown that bovine a-lactalbumin also has antiproliferative effects in human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. During a 5-day dose-dependent growth study, bovine a-lactalbumin was added to Caco-2 or HT-29 monolayers in amounts from 5 to 35 µg/mL. Low concentrations of a-lactalbumin (10-25 µg/mL) stimulated growth during the first 3 to 4 days. After growing for 4 days, proliferation ceased and viable cell numbers decreased dramatically in the a-lactalbumin-treated cultures, suggesting a delayed initiation of apoptosis. This experiment demonstrates the acute bioactive effects of small concentrations of a-lactalbumin, compared with the high concentrations of other proteins in the media. These results suggest that a-lactalbumin in milk may promote health by inhibiting growth of potential cancer cells. Further studies will identify the role of calcium in the bioactivity of a-lactalbumin
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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Sternhagen, L.G., Allen, J.C. (2001). Growth Rates of a Human Colon Adenocarcinoma Cell Line are Regulated by the Milk Protein Alpha-Lactalbumin. In: Newburg, D.S. (eds) Bioactive Components of Human Milk. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 501. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1371-1_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1371-1_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5521-2
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