α-Lactalbumin species variation, HAMLET formation, and tumor cell death

HAMLET (human α-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) is a tumoricidal complex of apo α-lactalbumin and oleic acid, formed in casein after low pH treatment of human milk. This study examined if HAMLET-like complexes are present in casein from different species and if isolated α-lactalbumin from those species can form such complexes with oleic acid. Casein from human, bovine, equine, and porcine milk was separated by ion exchange chromatography and active complexes were only found in human casein. This was not explained by α-lactalbumin sequence variation, as purified bovine, equine, porcine, and caprine α-lactalbumins formed complexes with oleic acid with biological activity similar to HAMLET. We conclude that structural variation of α-lactalbumins does not preclude the formation of HAMLET-like complexes and that natural HAMLET formation in casein was unique to human milk, which also showed the highest oleic acid content.