Overphosphorylation of milk caseins by a recombinant protein kinase CK2 catalytic subunit

Milk caseins have been phosphorylated by a recombinant protein kinase CK2 catalytic subunit from Schizosaccharomyces pombe (rspCK2alpha). Phosphate incorporation stoechiometries into purified caseins and into native phosphocaseinate, a substrate exhibiting a micellar-like structure, were determined. We incorporated 2.01 mol of P/mol of alpha-casein, 6.46 mol of P/mol of beta-casein, up to 0. 29 mol of P/mol of kappa-casein in 4 h, and more than 1.36 mol of P/mol of casein into phosphocaseinate under optimized conditions. Phosphocaseinate was sequentially phosphorylated; beta-caseins being labeled at first; alpha-caseins being labeled later; and to a lower extend, kappa-caseins were the last to be phosphorylated. The solubility of phosphocaseinate micelles increased by 1.34 from 65 to 87%, and its rennetting time was increased 2.88 times. These results are discussed in terms of plausible structural organization of caseins micelles and the effect of phosphorylation on their structure.