Nature 324, 383 - 385 (27 November 1986); doi:10.1038/324383a0

The structure of -lactoglobulin and its similarity to plasma retinol-binding protein

M. Z. Papiz^*†, L. Sawyer^*‡§, E. E. Eliopoulos, A. C. T. North, J. B. C. Findlay^¶, R. Sivaprasadarao^¶, T. A. Jones^£, M. E. Newcomer^£ & P. J. Kraulis^£

^*Department of Applied Chemical Sciences, Napier College, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
^‡Department of Biochemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XD, UK
Astbury Department of Biophysics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
^¶Department of Biochemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
^£Department of Molecular Biology, Box 590, BMC University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
^†Present address: SERC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD, UK.
^§To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Since its first isolation¹, bovine -lactoglobulin (BLG) has been an enigma: although it is abundant in the whey fraction of milk, its function is still not clear. The results of the many physicochemical studies on the protein need a structural interpretation. We report here the structure of the orthorhombic crystal form of cow BLG at pH 7.6, at a resolution of 2.8 Å. It has an unusual protein fold, composed of two slabs of antiparallel -sheet, which shows a remarkable similarity to plasma retinol-binding protein. A possible binding site for retinol in BLG has been identified by model-building. This suggests a role for BLG in vitamin A transport and we have discovered specific receptors for the BLG−retinol complex in the intestine of neonate calves.

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