Comparison of the chaperon activity of glycerol and α-casein on amyloid formation of κ-casein in the presence of glycine and arginine

Abstract

Amyloids are insoluble fibers which arise from inappropriately folded versions of proteins and have been associated with the pathology of many neurodegenerative diseases. α-Casein is one of the major components of the casein family which is known to show chaperone-like activity. Glycerol is a polyol compound which acts as a chemical chaperone to increase protein stability and inhibit protein aggregation. In this study, the effect of arginine and glycine on the chaperone ability of α-casein and glycerol against order aggregation of κ-casein was investigated and compared. We found that these additives reduced the chaperone ability of α-casein against the amyloid formation of κ-casein, especially in the presence of arginine. Importantly, our results show that the chaperone action of glycerol is enhanced in the presence of both arginine and glycine. Accordingly, our results suggest that these small molecules associated with glycerol, especially glycine, should be considered as a mechanism for the treatment of amyloid disease. © 2013 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Wien.