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A literature review on lactopontin and its roles in early life
Qiong Jia1, Yiran Wang2, Jing Zhu2
1Department of Pediatrics, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Insights
Lactopontin (LPN), a milk-derived osteopontin (OPN), plays crucial roles in infant immune, intestinal, and nervous system development. This review highlights LPN
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Immunology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Human milk proteins offer protection and health benefits during early life.
- Lactopontin (LPN) is a milk-derived form of osteopontin (OPN) with multifunctional properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the functions and underlying mechanisms of lactopontin (LPN) in early life.
- To explore LPN's role in infant development and health.
Main Methods:
- Literature review utilizing Uniprot, PubMed, and Google Scholar.
- Inclusion of in vitro, in vivo, and clinical study data.
Main Results:
- LPN is a highly modified acidic protein found at high concentrations in human milk.
- LPN, as intact protein and peptides, interacts with cellular receptors to modulate signaling pathways.
- LPN supports the development of infant immune, intestinal, and nervous systems.
Conclusions:
- LPN demonstrates significant potential in supporting infant health, particularly for preterm infants.
- LPN forms complexes with lactoferrin (LF) to enhance stability and biological activity.
- Further clinical trials are needed to fully elucidate LPN's benefits and applications.
Objective:
Our study aims to review the functions and possible mechanisms of lactopontin (LPN) in early life.
Background:
Human milk proteins provide a variety of protection and health benefits in early life. One of these multifunctional proteins is LPN, which is osteopontin (OPN) derived from milk.
Methods:
Information used to write this paper was collected from Uniprot, PubMed, and Google Scholar, including in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies.
Conclusions:
LPN is a highly phosphorylated, O-glycosylated acidic protein and a unique type of OPN, as it presents at the highest concentration and a higher degree of posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in human milk than other tissues and excretions. LPN is present in milk and the intestinal tracts of infants after consumption as a mixture of intact protein and peptides, which can bind diverse integrin and receptors in the target cell and drive downstream signaling pathways. LPN is found to play important roles in developing the immune, intestinal and nervous systems in early life. Moreover, LPN has also shown to support preterm infants' health when they are especially vulnerable after delivery via animal studies. Additionally, LPN can form protein complex with another milk bioactive protein, lactoferrin (LF), to withstand proteolysis and perform more efficient biological activity. Therefore, LPN showed great potential for early life while more clinical trials and evidence are still emergying.
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