Alpha-lactalbumin

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lactalbumin, alpha-
Identifiers
Symbol	LALBA
HUGO	6480
Entrez	3906
OMIM	149750
RefSeq	NM_002289
UniProt	P00709
Other data
Locus	Chr. 12 q13

α-lactalbumin is an important whey protein in cow's milk (~1 g/l), and is also present in many other mammalian species.

The molecular weight is 14176 Da, and the isoelctric point is between 4.2 and 4.5. One of the main structural differences with beta-lactoglobulin is that it does not have any free thiol group that can serve as the starting point for a covalent aggregation reaction. As a result, pure α-lactoglobulin will not form gels upon denaturation and acidification.