The synthesis of casein micelles to determine their formation from casein proteins

Casein micelles, representing 80% of the total protein content in milk, have a hierarchical structure ranging on the scale of ~100 nm to ~1 nm. Much research is currently ongoing into casein production by microbial fermentation, with the aim of using these caseins to assemble casein micelles which can subsequently be used for food products. This experiment will address these interesting materials: casein micelles assembled from casein proteins themselves. We propose to use small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to systematically study the nanostructure up to Q of ~1 1/Å during casein micelle formation. These model systems will imitate skimmed milk at various stages to provide information about interactions within casein micelles; calcium and phosphate will be titrated into casein solutions at conditions that enable micelle formation.