Immune‐enhancing effect of high molecular weight portion of dextran glycated alpha‐lactalbumin

Abstract

Proteins and reducing sugars can be conjugated by glycation reaction which is Maillard reaction. We have tried to find a new functional material through this reaction. In the previous study, we found that there was a potency of immune‐modulating effect on alpha‐lactalbumin (LA) and dextran (D) conjugate (LADC). There was no a significant difference between LA and LADC in terms of immune response in RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. However, in this study, the immune‐enhancing effects of high molecular weight portion of LADC were shown DLA in RAW 264.7 was shown. LA and D were dry‐heated at 60¡É and 79% relative humidity for 1 and 15 days. SDS‐PAGE analysis was used to confirm the occurrence of the conjugated formation. 100 kDa membrane cut‐off was carried out to gain a high molecular weight portion of LADC. Immune‐enhancing effects were screened by nitric oxide (NO) production. TNF‐α, IL‐1β and IL‐6 cytokines were estimated in vitro. Data showed that the high molecular weight cutoff portion of LADC (LADCCO) showed dramatically increase of NO production. Also, LADCCO treated group presented high expression of immune‐related cytokines, TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6, in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Therefore, our study suggests that high molecular weight cutoff portion of dextran glycated with alpha‐lactalbumin might be a new useful material for enhancing the immune responses.