Involvement of Disulfide Bonds in Bovine β-Lactoglobulin B Gels Set Thermally at Various pH

To obtain information on forces important for maintenance of the structure of heat-set β-lactoglobulin gels, gels set from pure β-lactoglobulin at pH 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 were solubilized in dissociating buffers, and solubilized material was characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography. The gel formed at pH 7.0 was largely soluble in urea (or SDS), and this gel seemed to be built from covalently linked soluble aggregates, associating into a gel network mainly by strong noncovalent interactions. The gel set at pH 5.0 was solubilized only in the presence of a reducing agent, indicating that this gel structure was supported mainly by covalent disulfide bonds. The gel set at pH 3.0 was almost completely solubilized in SDS or urea without a reducing agent, showing the importance of noncovalent interactions in maintaining the gel structure.