Milk, revealed "silent" chemistry: new mode of cycloretinal synthesis

Bovine milk is by far the most commonly consumed milk in the western world. The protein composition in milk consists of casein and whey proteins, of which β-lactoglobulin (BLG) is the principal constituent of the latter. Here we provide biochemical evidence that this milk protein, in purified form and in pasteurized store-bought milk, promotes the formation of cycloretinal (all-trans retinal dimer), and a variety of other cycloterpenals of biological relevance [Fishkin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2005, 102, 7091-7096; Fishkin et al., Chirality, 2004, 16, 637-641; Kim et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2007, 104, 19273-19278]. Cycloretinal is an eye metabolite and among several toxic byproducts of the visual cycle firmly established to cause age-related macular degeneration. Experiments in rabbits further demonstrate that BLG/milk can survive the digestive system and promote this reaction in vivo [Caillard et al., Am. J. Physiol., 1994, 266(6), G1053-G1059]. Proteomic studies on age-related macular degeneration patients have detected BLG in the eye of these patients further suggesting that this milk protein could contribute to disease progression [Crabb et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2002, 99(23), 14682-14687].