title: Self-assembly structure formation during the digestion of human breast milk.
abstract: An infant's complete diet, human breast milk, is the basis for its survival and development. It contains water-soluble and poorly water-soluble bioactive components, metabolic messages, and energy, all of which are made bioavailable during the digestion process in the infant's gastrointestinal tract. Reported is the first discovery of highly geometrically organized structures formed during the digestion of human breast milk under simulated in vivo conditions using small-angle X-ray scattering and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. Time of digestion, pH, and bile salt concentration were found to have symbiotic effects gradually tuning the oil-based environment inside the breast milk globules to more water-like structures with high internal surface area. The structure formation is necessarily linked to its function as carriers for poorly water-soluble molecules in the digestive tract of the infant.
authors.affiliation: Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (BJB), Monash University (Parkville Campus), 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052 (Australia). Stefan.salentinig@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salentinig
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hawley
authors.forename: Ben J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Boyd
mesh_terms: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D010743:Phospholipids
keywords: emulsions; lipids; milk; self-assembly; vesicles