The
released milk N-glycome has been found to
possess antipathogenic activity. Natively, they are covalently linked
onto proteins. Whether the conjugated N-glycans still
have antipathogenic properties and how the glycosylation influences
the antipathogenic activity of proteins remain unclear. Herein, we
compared the quantitative differences of milk protein N-glycosylation
and the antilisterial differences of native milk proteins, released N-glycan pools, and deglycosylated proteins between human
and bovine milk. N-glycosylation exhibited to be quantitatively species-specific.
The entire growth inhibitory activity and the majority of the antiadhesive
activity against Listeria monocytogenes of milk whey proteins, although not as high as the released N-glycans, are attributed to N-glycosylation. Moreover,
all N-glycan-bearing samples from human milk showed
better growth inhibitory activities than those from bovine milk. Generally,
N-glycosylation significantly contributes to the antilisterial function
of milk proteins and to the functional differences between species.
This gives novel insights into the role of these glycoconjugates in
nature.
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