Identification of fibroblast growth factors in bovine cheese whey

Abstract
Summary: Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (FGF) were identified in bovine cheese whey after partial purification using a two step procedure. Cation-exchange chromatography produced a mitogen-rich extract which was loaded on to a heparin-sepharose column and eluted stepwise with 0·8, 1·2 and 2·0 M-NH4HC03. Mitogenic activity was found in all three fractions by cell growth assays using Balb/c-3T3 fibroblasts. Immunoblotting identified acidic FGF in the 1·2 M-eluate and basic FGF in the 2·0 M-eluate, but neither acidic nor basic FGF was detected in the 0·8 M-fraction. Quantitative radioreceptor assays indicated 5·8 ng of acidic FGF-like activity and 19·8 ng of basic FGF-like activity per 1 whey in the appropriate eluates. This study represents the first direct demonstration of FGF in milk.

This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit: