The aim of the present investigation was to study the underlying causes of noncoagulating (NC) milk. Based on an initial screening in a herd of 53 Danish Holstein-Friesians, 20 individual Holstein-Friesian cows were selected for good and poor chymosin-induced coagulation properties; that is, the 10 cows producing milk with the poorest and best coagulating properties, respectively. These 20 selected cows were followed and resampled on several occasions to evaluate possible changes in coagulation properties. In the follow-up study, we found that among the 10 cows with the poorest coagulating properties, 4 cows consistently produced poorly coagulating (PC) or NC milk, corresponding to a frequency of 7%. Noncoagulating milk was defined as milk that failed to form a coagulum, defined as increase in the storage modulus (G') in oscillatory rheometry, within 45min after addition of chymosin. Poorly coagulating milk was characterized by forming a weak coagulum of low G'. Milk proteomic profiling and contents of different casein variants, ionic contents of Ca, P and Mg, κ-casein (CN) genotypes, casein micelle size, and coagulation properties of the 4 NC or PC samples were compared with milk samples of 4 cows producing milk with good coagulation properties. The studies included determination of production of caseinomacropeptide to ascertain whether noncoagulation could be ascribed to the first or second phase of chymosin-induced coagulation. Caseinomacropeptide was formed in all 8 milk samples after addition of chymosin, indicating that the first step (cleavage of κ-CN) was not the cause of inability to coagulate. Furthermore, the effect of mixing noncoagulating and well-coagulating milk was studied. By gradually blending NC with well-coagulating milk, the coagulation properties of the well-coagulating samples were compromised in a manner similar to titration. Milk samples from cows that consistently produced NC milk were further studied at the udder quarter level. The coagulation properties of the quarter milk samples were not significantly different from those of the composite milk sample, showing that poor coagulation traits and noncoagulation traits of the composite milk were not caused by the milk quality of a single quarter. The milk samples exhibiting PC or NC properties were all of the κ-CN variant AA genotype, and contained casein micelles with a larger mean diameter and a lower fraction of κ-CN relative to total CN than milk with good coagulation properties. Interestingly, the relative proportions of different phosphorylation forms of α-CN differed between well-coagulating milk and PC or NC milk samples. The PC and NC milk samples contained a lower proportion of the 2 less-phosphorylated variants of α-CN (α(S1)-CN-8P and α(S2)-CN-11P) compared with samples of milk that coagulated well.

Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a plasma protein of the innate immune system with the ability to initiate antimicrobial and inflammatory actions. MBL deficiency is common. More than 10% of the general population may, depending on definition, be classified as MBL deficient, underlining the redundancy of the immune system. Ongoing research attempt to illuminate at which conditions MBL deficiency may lead to disease. With examples, this review illustrates the diversity of results obtained so far.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the metabolite profile of milk and important technological properties by using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics. The metabolomics approach was introduced for the metabolic profiling of a set of milk samples from two dairy breeds representing a wide span in coagulation properties. The milk metabolite profiles obtained by proton and carbon NMR spectroscopy could be correlated to breed and, more interestingly, also with the coagulation profile, as established by traditional methods by using principal component analysis (PCA). The metabolites responsible for the separation into breed could mainly be ascribed to carnitine and lactose, whereas the metabolites varying in the samples with respect to coagulation properties included citrate, choline, carnitine, and lactose. The results found in the present study demonstrated a promising potential of NMR-based metabolomics for a rapid analysis and classification of milk samples, both of which are useful for the dairy industry.

Ficolins play a role in the innate immune defence as pathogen-associated molecular pattern recognition molecules. Three ficolins are found in humans: H-ficolin, L-ficolin and M-ficolin. L-ficolin and H-ficolin circulate in blood in complexes with mannan-binding lectin-associated serine proteases (MASPs) and are capable of activating the complement system. L-ficolin shows affinity for acetylated compounds and binds to various capsulated strains of bacteria. Hficolin has been shown to bind Aerococcus viridans. Less is known about Mficolin, but it is thought to be present only on monocytes. We have synthesized recombinant M-ficolin and find that it, in a manner similar to L-ficolin, is able to bind to acetylated compounds and to associate with recombinant MASP-2. Upon binding to M-ficolin ligands, the associated MASP-2 zymogen is activated and cleaves C4, thus triggering the complement system. We developed a monoclonal rat anti-human-M/L-ficolin antibody and verified by flow cytometric analysis the presence of ficolin on the surface of peripheral blood monocytes.

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