The study was aimed to differentiate between porcine and bovine gelatines in adulterated samples by utilising sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) combined with principal component analysis (PCA). The distinct polypeptide patterns of 6 porcine type A and 6 bovine type B gelatines at molecular weight ranged from 50 to 220 kDa were studied. Experimental samples of raw gelatine were prepared by adding porcine gelatine in a proportion ranging from 5% to 50% (v/v) to bovine gelatine and vice versa. The method used was able to detect 5% porcine gelatine added to the bovine gelatine. There were no differences in the electrophoretic profiles of the jelly samples when the proteins were extracted with an acetone precipitation method. The simple approach employing SDS-PAGE and PCA reported in this paper may provide a useful tool for food authenticity issues concerning gelatine.
In this work, we proposed a biosensor for trypsin proteolytic activity assay using immobilization of model peptides on screen-printed electrodes (SPE) modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) prepared by electrosynthetic method. Sensing of proteolytic activity was based on electrochemical oxidation of tyrosine residues of peptides. We designed peptides containing N-terminal cysteine residue for immobilization on an SPE, modified with gold nanoparticles, trypsin-specific cleavage site and tyrosine residue as a redox label. The peptides were immobilized on SPE by formation of chemical bonds between mercapto groups of the N-terminal cysteine residues and AuNPs. After the incubation with trypsin, time-dependent cleavage of the immobilized peptides was observed by decline in tyrosine electrochemical oxidation signal. The kinetic parameters of trypsin, such as the catalytic constant (kcat), the Michaelis constant (KM) and the catalytic efficiency (kcat/KM), toward the CGGGRYR peptide were determined as 0.33 ± 0.01 min-1, 198 ± 24 nM and 0.0016 min-1 nM-1, respectively. Using the developed biosensor, we demonstrated the possibility of analysis of trypsin specificity toward the peptides with amino acid residues disrupting proteolysis. Further, we designed the peptides with proline or glutamic acid residues after the cleavage site (CGGRPYR and CGGREYR), and trypsin had reduced activity toward both of them according to the existing knowledge of the enzyme specificity. The developed biosensor system allows one to perform a comparative analysis of the protease steady-state kinetic parameters and specificity toward model peptides with different amino acid sequences.
Casein (CN) is a common allergen that is challenging to avoid in modern foods. The effect of cold argon plasma (CAP) on reducing CN antigenicity was investigated, focusing on alterations in epitope structure and sequence. CAP mainly contains hydroxyl radicals (∙OH). After a 12-min CAP treatment, the result of ELISA demonstrated an 80.46 % reduction in antigenicity. Transmission electron microscopy and electrophoresis revealed that certain CN aggregated, while multispectral analysis indicated that part of CN was fragmented into smaller peptides. The predictive 3D model suggested the disruption of linear epitopes located in the α-helix region might contribute to the reduced allergenicity. The peptide sequences were compared to the linear epitopes predicted by immunoinformatics approaches, revealing some reduction or breakage of key allergic sequences. Meanwhile, amino acids with aromatic side chains and hydrophobic groups were susceptible to CAP-induced modifications. This investigation demonstrated CAP could be beneficial for processing hypoallergenic foods.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics in order to defeat multidrug-resistant bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, thirteen antimicrobial peptides were designed based on two natural peptides indolicidin and ranalexin. Our results revealed that four hybrid peptides RN7-IN10, RN7-IN9, RN7-IN8, and RN7-IN6 possess potent antibacterial activity against 30 pneumococcal clinical isolates (MIC 7.81-15.62µg/ml). These four hybrid peptides also showed broad spectrum antibacterial activity (7.81µg/ml) against S. aureus, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and E. coli. Furthermore, the time killing assay results showed that the hybrid peptides were able to eliminate S. pneumoniae within less than one hour which is faster than the standard drugs erythromycin and ceftriaxone. The cytotoxic effects of peptides were tested against human erythrocytes, WRL-68 normal liver cell line, and NL-20 normal lung cell line. The results revealed that none of the thirteen peptides have cytotoxic or hemolytic effects at their MIC values. The in silico molecular docking study was carried out to investigate the binding properties of peptides with three pneumococcal virulent targets by Autodock Vina. RN7IN6 showed a strong affinity to target proteins; autolysin, pneumolysin, and pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) based on rigid docking studies. Our results suggest that the hybrid peptides could be suitable candidates for antibacterial drug development.
Food-derived bioactive proteins and peptides have gained acceptance among researchers, food manufacturers and consumers as health-enhancing functional food components that also serve as natural alternatives for disease prevention and/or management. Bioactivity in food proteins and peptides is determined by their conformations and binding characteristics, which in turn depend on their primary and secondary structures. To maintain their bioactivities, the molecular integrity of bioactive peptides must remain intact, and this warrants the study of peptide form and structure, ideally with robust, highly specific and sensitive techniques. Short single-stranded nucleic acids (i.e. aptamers) are known to have high affinity for cognate targets such as proteins and peptides. Aptamers can be produced cost-effectively and chemically derivatized to increase their stability and shelf life. Their improved binding characteristics and minimal modification of the target molecular signature suggests their suitability for real-time detection of conformational changes in both proteins and peptides. This review discusses the developmental progress of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), an iterative technology for generating cost-effective aptamers with low dissociation constants (Kd) for monitoring the form and structure of bioactive proteins and peptides. The review also presents case studies of this technique in monitoring the structural stability of bioactive peptide formulations to encourage applications in functional foods. The challenges and potential of aptamers in this research field are also discussed. Graphical abstract Advancing bioactive proteins and peptide functionality via aptameric ligands.
Enzyme hydrolysates (trypsin, papain, pepsin, α-chymotrypsin, and pepsin-pancreatin) of Tinospora cordifolia stem proteins were analyzed for antioxidant efficacy by measuring (1) 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) radical scavenging activity, (2) 2,20-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS+) radical scavenging capacity, and (3) Fe2+ chelation. Trypsin hydrolysate showed the strongest DPPH• scavenging, while α-chymotrypsin hydrolysate exhibited the highest ABTS+ scavenging and Fe2+ chelation. Undigested protein strongly inhibited the gastrointestinal enzymes, trypsin (50% inhibition at enzyme/substrate ratio = 1:6.9) and α-chymotrypsin (50% inhibition at enzyme/substrate ratio = 1:1.82), indicating the prolonged antioxidant effect after ingestion. Furthermore, gel filtration purified peptide fractions of papain hydrolysates exhibited a significantly higher ABTS+ and superoxide radical scavenging as compared to non-purified digests. Active fraction 9 showing the highest radical scavenging ability was further purified and confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS followed by MS/MS with probable dominant peptide sequences identified are VLYSTPVKMWEPGR, VITVVATAGSETMR, and HIGININSR. The obtained results revealed that free radical scavenging capacity of papain hydrolysates might be related to its consistently low molecular weight hydrophobic peptides.
Macromolecular protein and peptide therapeutics have been proven to be effective in treating critical human diseases precisely. Thanks to biotechnological advancement, a huge number of proteins and peptide therapeutics were made their way to pharmaceutical market in past few decades. However, one of the biggest challenges to be addressed for protein therapeutics during clinical application is their fast degradation in serum and quick elimination owing to enzymatic degradation, renal clearance, liver metabolism and immunogenicity, attributing to the short half-lives. Size and hydrophobicity of protein molecules make them prone to kidney filtration and liver metabolism. On the other hand, proteasomes responsible for protein destruction possess the capability of specifically recognizing almost all kinds of foreign proteins while avoiding any unwanted destruction of cellular components. At present almost all protein-based drug formulations available in market are administered intravenously (IV) or subcutaneously (SC) with high dosing at frequent interval, eventually creating dose-fluctuation-related complications and reducing patient compliance vastly. Therefore, artificially increasing the therapeutic half-life of a protein by attaching to it a molecule that increases the overall size (eg, PEG) or helps with receptor mediated recycling (eg, albumin), or manipulating amino acid chain in a way that makes it more prone towards aggregate formation, are some of the revolutionary approaches to avoid the fast degradation in vivo. Half-life extension technologies that are capable of dramatically enhancing half-lives of proteins in circulation (2-100 folds) and thus improving their overall pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters have been successfully applied on a wide range of protein therapeutics from hormones and enzymes, growth factor, clotting factor to interferon. The focus of the review is to assess the technological advancements made so far in enhancing circulatory half-lives and improving therapeutic potency of proteins.
Peptide cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel has been widely used for drug delivery and tissue engineering. However, the use of this material as a biosensor for the detection of collagenase has not been explored. Proteases play a key role in the pathology of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The detection of this class of enzyme using the degradable hydrogel film format is promising as a point-of-care device for disease monitoring. In this study, a protease biosensor was developed based on the degradation of a peptide cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel film and demonstrated for the detection of collagenase. The hydrogel was deposited on gold-coated quartz crystals, and their degradation in the presence of collagenase was monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The biosensor was shown to respond to concentrations between 2 and 2000 nM in less than 10 min with a lower detection limit of 2 nM.
Novel bioactive peptides from camel milk protein hydrolysates (CMPH) were identified and tested for inhibition of cholesterol esterase (CEase), and their possible binding mechanisms were elucidated by molecular docking. Papain-generated CMPH showed the highest degree of hydrolysis. All CMPH produced upon enzymatic degradation demonstrated a dramatic enhancement of CEase inhibition compared with intact camel milk proteins, with papain-generated hydrolysate P9 displaying the highest inhibition. Peptide identification and their modeling through PepSite 2 revealed that among 20 potential bioactive peptides in alcalase-generated hydrolysate A9, only 3 peptides, with sequences KFQWGY, SQDWSFY, and YWYPPQ, showed the highest binding toward CEase catalytic sites. Among 43 peptides in 9-h papain-generated hydrolysate P9, 4 peptides were found to be potent CEase inhibitors. Molecular docking revealed that WPMLQPKVM, CLSPLQMR, MYQQWKFL, and CLSPLQFR from P9 hydrolysates were able to bind to the active site of CEase with good docking scores and molecular mechanics-generalized born surface area binding energies. Overall, this is the first study reporting CEase inhibitory potential of peptides generated from milk proteins.
BACKGROUND: Despite the extensive research carried out to develop natural antifungal preservatives for food applications, there are very limited antifungal agents available to inhibit the growth of spoilage fungi in processed foods. Scope and Approach: Therefore, this review summarizes the discovery and development of antifungal peptides using lactic acid bacteria fermentation to prevent food spoilage by fungi. The focus of this review will be on the identification of antifungal peptides, potential sources, the possible modes of action and properties of peptides considered to inhibit the growth of spoilage fungi. Key Findings and Conclusions: Antifungal peptides generated by certain lactic acid bacteria strains have a high potential for applications in a broad range of foods. The mechanism of peptides antifungal activity is related to their properties such as low molecular weight, concentration and secondary structure. The antifungal peptides were proposed to be used as bio-preservatives to reduce and/or replace chemical preservatives.
Bio-nanogate involves synthesized or natural molecules as a 'gate' towards bioreceptors and responds upon the presence of targeted analytes in nanoscale dimension. Development of bio-nanogate improves analyte selectivity and signal response across various types of biosensors. The versatility of PAMAM dendrimers to form conjugates with guest molecules, such as proteins can be utilized in forming a bio-nanogate. PAMAM interaction with peptide bioreceptor for antibody detection is of interest in this study. This study investigated the interaction of synthesized immunogenic 'a' determinant (aD) region of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) with PAMAM G4 and anti-HBsAg antibody, as a potential bio-nanogate for anti-HBsAg detection. The aD peptide fused with maltose binding protein (MBP), was confirmed with Western blotting. Nano-Differential Scanning Fluorimetry (nano-DSF) study revealed that the interaction of MBP-aD with anti-HBsAg indicated a higher thermal stability as compared to its interaction with PAMAM G4. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that a higher binding constant of MBP-aD interaction with anti-HBsAg (0.92 μM-1) was observed at maximum saturation, as compared with PAMAM G4 (0.07 μM-1). Thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that MBP-aD interacted with anti-HBsAg and PAMAM G4, through van der Waals and hydrogen bonding. These analyses suggest that the weak interaction of MBP-aD and PAMAM G4 may form a potential bio-nanogate. It is hypothesized that the presence of anti-HBsAg has a higher affinity towards MBP-aD which may displace PAMAM G4 in the anti-HBsAg detection system. This interaction study is crucial as an initial platform of using peptide-PAMAM as a bio-nanogate in an antibody detection system.
Laccases, oxidative copper-enzymes found in fungi and bacteria were used as the basis in the design of nona- and tetrapeptides. Laccases are known to be excellent catalysts for the degradation of phenolic xenobiotic waste. However, since solvent extraction of laccases is environmentally-unfriendly and yields obtained are low, they are less preferred compared to synthetic catalysts. The histidine rich peptides were designed based on the active site of laccase extracted from Trametes versicolor through RCSB Protein Data Bank, LOMETS and PyMol software. The peptides were synthesized using Fmoc-solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) with 30-40% yield. These peptides were purified and characterized using LC-MS (purities >75%), FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. Synthesized copper(II)-peptides were crystallized and then analyzed spectroscopically. Their structures were elucidated using 1D and 2D NMR. Standards (o,m,p-cresol, 2,4-dichlorophenol) catalysed using laccase from Trametes versicolor (0.66 U/mg) were screened under different temperatures and stirring rate conditions. After optimizing the degradation of the standards with the best reaction conditions reported herein, medications with phenolic and aromatic structures such as ibuprofen, paracetamol (acetaminophen), salbutamol, erythromycin and insulin were screened using laccase (positive control), apo-peptides and copper-peptides. Their activities evaluated using GC-MS, were compared with those of peptide and copper-peptide catalysts. The tetrapeptide was found to have the higher degradation activity towards salbutamol (96.8%) compared with laccase at 42.8%. Ibuprofen (35.1%), salbutamol (52.9%) and erythromycin (49.7%) were reported to have the highest degradation activities using Cu-tetrapeptide as catalyst when compared with the other medications. Consequently, o-cresol (84%) was oxidized by Tp-Cu while the apo-peptides failed to oxidize the cresols. Copper(II)-peptides were observed to have higher catalytic activity compared to their parent peptides and the enzyme laccase for xenobiotic degradation.
Jackfruit is a sweet tropical fruit with very pleasant aroma, and the ripe seeds are edible. In this study, jackfruit seed proteins were isolated and subjected to trypsin digestion. The resultant protein hydrolysate was then subjected to antioxidant assay-guided purification, using centrifugal filtration, C18 reverse-phase and strong cation exchange (SCX) fractionations. The purified SCX fraction was further analyzed by de novo peptide sequencing, and two peptide sequences were identified and synthesized. Peptide JFS-2 (VGPWQK) was detected with antioxidant potential, with EC50 value comparable to that of commercial GSH antioxidant peptide. Additionally, the identified peptides were tested with protein protection potential, in an albumin protein denaturation inhibitory assay. Concurrently, we also investigated the pH, temperature, and gastrointestinal-digestion stability profiles for the identified peptide. With further research efforts, the identified peptides could potentially be developed into preservative agent for protein-rich food systems or as health-promoting diet supplements.
Supramolecular architectures that are built artificially from biomolecules, such as nucleic acids or peptides, with structural hierarchical orders ranging from the molecular to nano-scales have attracted increased attention in molecular science research fields. The engineering of nanostructures with such biomolecule-based supramolecular architectures could offer an opportunity for the development of biocompatible supramolecular (nano)materials. In this review, we highlighted a variety of supramolecular architectures that were assembled from both nucleic acids and peptides through the non-covalent interactions between them or the covalently conjugated molecular hybrids between them.
Shotgun proteomics has been widely applied to study proteins in complex biological samples. Combination of high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry has allowed for comprehensive protein analysis with high resolution, sensitivity, and mass accuracy. Prior to mass spectrometry analysis, proteins are extracted from biological samples and subjected to in-solution trypsin digestion. The digested proteins are subjected for clean-up and injected into the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system for peptide mass identification. Protein identification is performed by analyzing the mass spectrometry data on a protein search engine software such as PEAKS studio loaded with protein database for the species of interest. Results such as protein score, protein coverage, number of peptides, and unique peptides identified will be obtained and can be used to determine proteins identified with high confidence. This method can be applied to understand the proteomic changes or profile brought by bio-carrier-based therapeutics in vitro. In this chapter, we describe methods in which proteins can be extracted for proteomic analysis using a shotgun approach. The chapter outlines important in vitro techniques and data analysis that can be applied to investigate the proteome dynamics.
A predictive model of a virgin coconut oil (VCO) nanoemulsion system for the topical delivery of copper peptide (an anti-aging compound) was developed using an artificial neural network (ANN) to investigate the factors that influence particle size. Four independent variables including the amount of VCO, Tween 80: Pluronic F68 (T80:PF68), xanthan gum and water were the inputs whereas particle size was taken as the response for the trained network. Genetic algorithms (GA) were used to model the data which were divided into training sets, testing sets and validation sets. The model obtained indicated the high quality performance of the neural network and its capability to identify the critical composition factors for the VCO nanoemulsion. The main factor controlling the particle size was found out to be xanthan gum (28.56%) followed by T80:PF68 (26.9%), VCO (22.8%) and water (21.74%). The formulation containing copper peptide was then successfully prepared using optimum conditions and particle sizes of 120.7 nm were obtained. The final formulation exhibited a zeta potential lower than -25 mV and showed good physical stability towards centrifugation test, freeze-thaw cycle test and storage at temperature 25°C and 45°C.
Amyloid fibers are classified as a new generation of tunable bionanomaterials that exhibit new functions related to their distinctive characteristics, such as their universality, tunability, and stiffness. Here, we introduce the catalytic residues of serine protease into a peptide catalyst (PC) via an enzyme-mimic approach. The rational design of a repeating pattern of polar and nonpolar amino acids favors the conversion of the peptides into amyloid-like fibrils via self-assembly. Distinct fibrous morphologies have been observed at different pH values and temperatures, which indicates that different fibril packing schemes can be designed; hence, fibrillar peptides can be used to generate efficient artificial catalysts for amidolytic activities at mild pH values. The results of atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and wide-angle X-ray scattering analyses are used to discuss and compare the fibril structure of a fibrillar PC with its amidolytic activity. The pH of the fibrillation reaction crucially affects the pKa of the side chains of the catalytic triads and is important for stable fibril formation. Temperature is another important parameter that controls the self-assembly of peptides into highly stacked and laminated morphologies. The morphology and stability of fibrils are crucial and represent important factors for demonstrating the capability of the peptides to exert amidolytic activity. The observed amidolytic activity of PC4, one of the PCs, was validated using an inhibition assay, which revealed that PC4 can perform enzyme-like amidolytic catalysis. These results provide insights into the potential use of designed peptides in the generation of efficient artificial enzymes.
Effective novel peptide inhibitors which targeted the domain III of the dengue envelope (E) protein by blocking dengue virus (DENV) entry into target cells, were identified. The binding affinities of these peptides towards E-protein were evaluated by using a combination of docking and explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. The interactions of these complexes were further investigated by using the Molecular Mechanics-Poisson Boltzmann Surface Area (MMPBSA) and Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MMGBSA) methods. Free energy calculations of the peptides interacting with the E-protein demonstrated that van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic interactions were the main driving forces stabilizing the complexes. Interestingly, calculated binding free energies showed good agreement with the experimental dissociation constant (Kd) values. Our results also demonstrated that specific residues might play a crucial role in the effective binding interactions. Thus, this study has demonstrated that a combination of docking and molecular dynamics simulations can accelerate the identification process of peptides as potential inhibitors of dengue virus entry into host cells.
Edible bird's nest (EBN) is widely consumed as a delicacy and traditional medicine amongst the Chinese. In the present study, for the first time, the antioxidant properties of an EBN pepsin-trypsin hydrolysate of the swiftlet species Aerodramus fuciphagus and its ultrafiltration fractions were investigated. Thirteen peptides with molecular weights between 514.29 and 954.52 Da were identified in the EBN fraction with the use of mass spectrometry. Two novel pentapeptides Pro-Phe-His-Pro-Tyr and Leu-Leu-Gly-Asp-Pro, corresponding to f134-138 and f164-168 of cytochrome b of A. fuciphagus, indicated the highest ORAC values of 14.95 and 14.32 μM of TE μM(-1) peptide, respectively. Both purified peptides showed resistance against simulated gastrointestinal proteases. In addition, both peptides had no in vitro cytotoxicity on human lung MRC-5 cells and prevented human liver carcinoma HepG2 cellular damage caused by hydroxyl radicals. Therefore, it is suggested that EBN protein hydrolysates are a good source of natural antioxidants and could be applied as nutraceutical compounds.
COVID-19, as an emerging infectious disease, has caused significant mortality and morbidity along with socioeconomic impact. No effective treatment or vaccine has been approved yet for this pandemic disease. Cutting-edge tools, especially nanotechnology, should be strongly considered to tackle this virus. This review aims to propose several strategies to design and fabricate effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents against COVID-19 by the aid of nanotechnology. Polymeric, inorganic self-assembling materials and peptide-based nanoparticles are promising tools for battling COVID-19 as well as its rapid diagnosis. This review summarizes all of the exciting advances nanomaterials are making toward COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis and therapy.