Figure 1.

Markers of breast dysfunction and oxidative stress in breast milk from women harboring wild-type ZnT2 (T²⁸⁸) or the ZnT2 variant (S²⁸⁸). (a) Measurement of lactoferrin concentration in breast milk from women harboring two wild-type ZnT2 alleles (T²⁸⁸) and women harboring the ZnT2 variant (S²⁸⁸). Milk lactoferrin concentration was measured by ELISA. Data represent mean milk lactoferrin concentration (g/L) ± SD from n = 5 samples/genotype. (b) Evaluation of MMP-2 activity in breast milk from women harboring T²⁸⁸ or S²⁸⁸. MMP-2 activity was determined by gelatin zymography (arrow); data represent mean gelatin lysis area (clear bands) relative to T²⁸⁸ ± SD from n = 4–5 samples/genotype. Cropped gel is displayed and full-length gel can be found in Supplementary Fig. S2a. (c) Representative immunoblots of oxidative stress markers (4-HNE, mucin-4 and endoplasmin) in a fixed volume (5 µL) of breast milk from women harboring T²⁸⁸ or S²⁸⁸. A replicate gel was stained with Coomassie Blue as a loading control (bottom panel). Cropped blots are displayed and full-length blots can be found in Supplementary Fig. S2b–d. Quantification of relative protein abundance of (d) 4-HNE, (e) mucin-4 and (f) endoplasmin. Data represent mean signal intensity normalized to T²⁸⁸ ± SD from n = 4–5 samples/genotype; p < 0.05*, p < 0.01**.