Enzyme-induced formation of β-lactoglobulin fibrils by AspN endoproteinase

Abstract

This paper describes a low temperature, enzymatic route to induce fibrillar structures in a protein solution. The route comprises two steps. First, β-lactoglobulin was hydrolyzed into peptides at pH 8 and 37°C with the enzyme AspN endoproteinase, which resulted in the formation of random aggregates. After hydrolysis, the pH was lowered to 2. As a result, long fibrillar aggregates were formed which was observed using transmission electron microscopy and Thioflavin T fluorescence measurements. © 2008 The Author(s).