Microstructural observation of casein micelles in milk by cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections (CEMOVIS)

Casein micelles are present in bovine milk as colloidal particles with diameters of 20-600 nm, which are complex macromolecular assemblies composed of four distinct types of casein and colloidal calcium phosphate (CCP). Multiple structural models of casein micelles have been proposed based on their biochemical or physical properties and observed using electron microscopy. However, the CCP distribution and crosslinking structure between CCP and casein remain unclear. Therefore, the internal structure of casein micelles in raw milk was observed using cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections (CEMOVIS) with high precision at high resolution. The results confirmed that the average casein micelle diameter was about 140 nm, and that the CCP diameter in casein micelles was about 2-3 nm, with an average diameter of 2.3 nm. The distribution of CCP in casein micelles was not uniform, with an average interval between CCPs of about 5.4 nm. Areas containing no black particles (attributed to CCP) were present, with an average size of about 19.1 nm. Considering previous reports, these areas possibly correspond to pores or cavities filled with water. Based on differences in the density of structures in casein micelles, we estimated that some of the casein aggregates were able to connect with CCP in a string.