Yu Lu,Jie Liu,Zhenhua Li,Wenqing Li,Jing Liu,Linjuan Huang,Zhongfu Wang
Casein glycomacropeptide carries various O-glycan modifications, which, together with variations in the amino acid composition of the glycopeptide, may result in different biological activities. In this study, O-glycans of casein glycomacropeptide from bovine and caprine whey powder were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by LC-UV-ESI-MS/MS, and their immune activities and regulatory mechanisms were compared. O-Glycans’ total content was 1.54 times higher in bovine than in caprine glycomacropeptide. The glycoform H1N1S2 (H: hexose; N: N-acetylgalactosamine; and S: N-acetylneuraminic acid) accounted for nearly 50% of total glycomacropeptide O-glycans in bovine milk but less than 20% in caprine milk. Bovine glycomacropeptide glycosylation promoted the immune activity of RAW264.7 cells, which may be linked to a higher content of disialylated O-glycans. Glycomacropeptide from both milk sources significantly upregulated the mRNA expression of IL-1α, TNF-α, and IL-10 in RAW264.7 cells and activated the MAPK immunomodulatory signaling pathway. This study demonstrates the possible use of casein glycomacropeptide as an immunomodulatory agent.
Goat milk oligosaccharides are complex carbohydrates with a variety of biological functions. Free oligosaccharides from goat milk show more similarity to human milk than cow milk. At present, changes in goat milk glycoconjugates at different parities remain poorly studied. Herein, we qualitatively and quantitatively compared the goat milk glycoprotein N/O-glycome at different parities using a stable isotope labeling followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and online hydrophilic interaction chromatography. N-Glycans were mainly fucosylated and nonfucosylated nonsialylated, and both fucosylation and sialylation gradually increased with parity, amounting (at the third parity) to 1.25 times and 3.3 times those of the first parity, respectively. O-Glycans were mostly nonfucosylated and nonsialylated, and sialylation increased with increasing parity, and Neu5Ac-sialylated was up to 9 times higher in the third parity than in the first parity, whereas Neu5Gc-sialylated was 5.5 times higher. This study provides a reference for exploring an alternative milk source closest to human milk and for the development of humanized formula milk.