Fractionation of sheep cheese whey by a scalable method to sequentially isolate bioactive proteins.

This study reports a procedure for the simultaneous purification of glyco(caseino)macropeptide, immunoglobulin, lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin from sheep cheese sweet whey, an under-utilized by-product of cheese manufacture generated by an emerging sheep dairy industry in New Zealand. These proteins have recognized value in the nutrition, biomedical and health-promoting supplements industries. A sequential fractionation procedure using economical anion and cation exchange chromatography on HiTrap resins was evaluated.

A novel fatty acid-binding protein-like carotenoid-binding protein from the gonad of the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus.

A previously uncharacterized protein with a carotenoid-binding function has been isolated and characterized from the gonad of the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus. The main carotenoid bound to the protein was determined by reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography to be 9'-cis-echinenone and hence this 15 kDa protein has been called an echinenone-binding protein (EBP). Purification of the EBP in quantity from the natural source proved to be challenging.

Carotenoid-binding proteins; accessories to carotenoid function.

Understanding of the widespread biological importance of carotenoids is increasing. Accompanying this is the developing recognition that the interaction of carotenoids with other molecules, such as proteins, is also essential. Here the significance of carotenoid-protein interactions with respect to biological function is reviewed for three well characterised carotenoprotein complexes; crustacyanin, the orange carotenoid protein and glutathione-S-transferase P1.

Systematic study of spin crossover and structure in [Co(terpyRX)2](Y)2 systems (terpyRX = 4'-alkoxy-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine, X = 4, 8, 12, Y = BF4(-), ClO4(-), PF6(-), BPh4(-)).

A family of spin crossover cobalt(II) complexes of the type [Co(terpyRX)(2)](Y)(2) x nH(2)O (X = 4, 8, 12 and Y = BF(4)(-), ClO(4)(-), PF(6)(-), BPh(4)(-)) has been synthesized, whereby the alkyl chain length, RX, and counteranion, Y, have been systematically varied. The structural (single crystal X-ray diffraction) and electronic (magnetic susceptibility, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)) properties have been investigated within this family of compounds. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of [Co(terpyR8)(2)](ClO(4))(2), [Co(terpyR8)(2)](BF(4))(2) x H(2)O, and [Co(terpyR4)(2)](PF(6))(2) x 3 H(2)O, at 123 K, revealed compressed octahedral low spin Co(II) environments and showed varying extents of disorder in the alkyl tail portions of the terpyRX ligands.

Electron paramagnetic resonance characterization of the copper-resistance protein PcoC from Escherichia coli.

Continuous-wave and pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance have been applied to the study of the Cu(II) site of the copper-resistance protein PcoC from Escherichia coli and certain variant forms. Electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) experiments confirm the presence of two histidine ligands, His1 and His92, at the Cu(II) site of wild-type PcoC, consistent with the available X-ray crystallographic data for the homolog CopC (67% sequence identity) from Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato.