Summary: | The chemical, technological and allergy properties of goat’s milk are significantly affected by the level of α<sub>s1</sub>-casein. Detection and quantification of α<sub>s1</sub>-casein requires high-specificity methods to overcome high-sequence similarity between this protein and others in the casein family. Unavailability of antibodies with high affinity and specificity towards goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein hinders the development of immuno-based analytical methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and biosensors. Here, we report the generation of polyclonal antibodies (or immunoglobulins, IgGs) raised towards goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein N- (Nter) and C-terminal (Cter) peptide sequences. The Nter and Cter peptides of goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein were immunized in rabbits for the generation of antisera, which were purified using protein G affinity chromatography. The binding affinity of the antisera and purified IgGs were tested and compared using indirect ELISA, where peptide-BSA conjugates and goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein were used as the coating antigens. The Nter antiserum displayed higher titer than Cter antiserum, at 1/64,000 and 1/32,000 dilutions, respectively. The purification step further yielded 0.5 mg/mL of purified IgGs from 3 mL of antisera. The purified Nter IgG showed a significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) higher binding affinity towards peptide-BSA and goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein, with lower K<sub>d</sub> value at 5.063 × 10<sup>−3</sup> μM compared to 9.046 × 10<sup>−3</sup> μM for the Cter IgG. A cross-reactivity test showed that there was no binding in neither Nter nor Cter IgGs towards protein extracts from the milk of cow, buffalo, horse and camel. High-quality antibodies generated will allow further development of immuno-based analytical methods and future in vitro studies to be conducted on goat α<sub>s1</sub>-casein.
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