Comprising 11% of the egg-white, OVOMUCOID protects the developing chick from bacterial growth by inhibiting proteases. This heat and acid-stable protein is composed of 186 amino acids, which binds to trypsin in a 1:1 ratio.
OVOMUCOID is commonly used as an alternative to serum-based inhibition of proteases including trypsin and papain for sensitive tissue and cell culture techniques. Produced non-invasively, OVOMUCOID is the ethically preferred option 1 to the use of FBS/FCS (fetal bovine/calf serum).
Recent studies examining peptide fragments arising from the proteolytic digestion of OVOMUCOID have revealed promising functionalities. Hydrolysis using proteases including pepsin and alcalase yielded fragments with potential antioxidant, iron-chelating, and ACE-inhibitory properties 2,3. However, it remains to be understood whether these peptide fragments are generating physiologically in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Applications
OVOMUCOID functions effectively as a trypsin inhibitor. Applications include cell harvesting and tissue dissociation, as well as those in food and protein science. As opposed to other trypsin inhibitors such as fetal calf serum, which is invasively extracted, OVOMUCOID is obtained from hen egg white using conventional purification methods that retain OVOMUCOID natural and potent anti-tryptic activity.
Protein Purification
OVOMUCOID’s potent trypsin-inhibiting action is routinely used to prevent protein degradation during protein isolation and purification. This binding property makes OVOMUCOID suitable as a ligand for affinity purification of trypsin after immobilisation onto a matrix.
Food Processing
Food processing methods that rely on trypsin-based hydrolysis benefit from OVOMUCOID’s inhibiting properties, which can be used to prevent over-hydrolysis.
Cell and Tissue Culture
OVOMUCOID is an ideal alternative to the use of serum-based trypsin inhibition methods. Inhibiting solutions containing OVOMUCOID are recommended for use in cell dissociation, and cell lifting applications for broad cell types, including sensitive primary cells, stem cells, and organoids. OVOMUCOID can also be applied as a protease inhibitor in enzymatic antigen-retrieval protocols using papain or trypsin proteases.
Advantages & benefits
As one of the largest producers and suppliers of egg-derived proteins including OVOMUCOID, Bioseutica® is the trusted source for the highest purity of egg proteins. We offer a full range of services, encompassing both technical and application support, working with our customers to tailor products to their unique specifications. Our quality control procedures ensure consistency of quality across production runs. We offer and encourage our customers to review the analytical results of our production runs, and pre-shipment samples for in-house approval.
References
1. Jochems C et al.: The Use of Fetal Bovine Serum: Ethical or Scientific Problem? | Publisher Site
2. Abeyrathne E et al.: Enzymatic hydrolysis of ovomucoid and the functional properties of its hydrolysates | Publisher Site
3. Ding L et al.: Transport of Egg White ACE-Inhibitory Peptide, Gln-Ile-Gly-Leu-Phe, in Human Intestinal Caco‐2 Cell Monolayers with Cytoprotective Effect | Publisher Site