Molecular modeling of lactoferrin for food and nutraceutical applications: insights from in silico techniques

Abstract

Lactoferrin is a protein, primarily found in milk that has attracted the interest of the food industries due to its health properties. Nevertheless, the instability of lactoferrin has limited its commercial application. Recent studies have focused on encapsulation to enhance the stability of lactoferrin. However, the molecular insights underlying the changes of structural properties of lactoferrin and the interaction with protectants remain poorly understood. Computational approaches have proven useful in understanding the structural properties of molecules and the key binding with other constituents. In this review, comprehensive information on the structure and function of lactoferrin and the binding with various molecules for food purposes are reviewed, with a special emphasis on the use of molecular dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate the application of modeling and simulations to determine key residues of lactoferrin responsible for its stability and interactions with other biomolecular components under various conditions, which are also associated with its functional benefits. These have also been extended into the potential creation of enhanced lactoferrin for commercial purposes. This review provides valuable strategies in designing novel nutraceuticals for food science practitioners and those who have interests in acquiring familiarity with the application of computational modeling for food and health purposes.

Keywords:

• Antimicrobials
• bioactive proteins
• encapsulation
• functional foods
• lactoferrin
• whey proteins

Acknowledgements

KKD gratefully acknowledges the Australian Government for providing Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship in the form of Research Stipend Scholarship (RSS) and International tuition fee offset scholarship.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.