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Analysis of β-Lactoglobulin emulsion by Diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) (CAT#: STEM-MB-0849-WXH)

Introduction

β-Lactoglobulin (BLG) is the major whey protein of cow and sheep's milk (~3 g/L), and is also present in many other mammalian species; a notable exception being humans. Its structure, properties and biological role have been reviewed many times. BLG is considered to be a milk allergen.
The major protein in whey is β-lactoglobulin, followed by α-lactalbumin (β-lactoglobulin ≈⁠ ⁠65%, α-lactalbumin ≈⁠⁠ ⁠25%, serum albumin ≈⁠⁠ ⁠8%, other ≈⁠ ⁠2%). β-lactoglobulin is a lipocalin protein, and can bind many hydrophobic molecules, suggesting a role in their transport. β-lactoglobulin has also been shown to be able to bind iron via siderophores and thus might have a role in combating pathogens. Upon ingestion BLG is able to shuttle complexed iron into human immune cells, thereby providing micronutrition to these cells and participating in immune tolerance. A homologue of β-lactoglobulin is lacking in human breast milk.




Principle

Diffusing-wave spectroscopy (DWS) is an optical technique derived from dynamic light scattering (DLS) that studies the dynamics of scattered light in the limit of strong multiple scattering. DWS is able to give information about the local dynamics of particle dispersion in a highly turbid medium. It has been widely used in the past to study colloidal suspensions, emulsions, foams, gels, biological media, and other forms of soft matter. If carefully calibrated, DWS allows the quantitative measurement of microscopic motion in a soft material, from which the rheological properties of the complex medium can be extracted via the microrheology approach.
The technique of DWS depends on the scattering of light from highly turbid suspensions. A sample of the suspension is illuminated by light from a laser and the incoming photons are multiply scattered. This scattered light is detected and subjected to autocorrelation analysis.

Applications

• Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy (DWS) is an advanced light scattering technique, which is primarily applied for microrheology and particle sizing.
• DWS has been applied in biomedical and clinical areas, especially in monitoring cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Procedure

1. Sample Preparation
2. Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy Testing
3. Data analysis

Materials

• Diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) instrument
• DWS RheoLab
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