Isolation and characterization of porcine milk lactoferrin

We purified porcine whey lactoferrin by affinity chromatography on a heparin-Sepharose column, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Molecular mass of purified lactoferrin (PLF) is 78,000 daltons. The iron-binding activity of PLF had a UV/visible-light absorption spectrum indistinguishable from that of human and bovine lactoferrins (absorbance ratio [465 nm/280 nm] approx 0.046). The growth ratio of WIL-2 cells in PLF-supplemented medium is 70% of that in serum-containing medium. The aforementioned characteristics are similar to those of human and bovine lactoferrins. Immunoblot analysis, using polyclonal antibody raised in rabbits against porcine whey lactoferrin, revealed high specificity for PLF, and low cross-reactivity with commercial human and bovine lactoferrins.