Enhancement of nutritional soy protein and peptide supplementation on skin repair in rats

Alterations in the sequence and bioactivity of food-derived oligopeptides during simulated gastrointestinal digestion and absorption: a review

Food-derived oligopeptides (FOPs) exhibit various bioactivities. However, little was known about their sequence changes in the gastrointestinal tract and the effect of changes on bioactivities. FOPs' sequence features, changes and effects on bioactivities have been summarised. The sequence length of FOPs decreases with increased exposure of hydrophobic and basic amino acids at the terminal during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. A decrease in bioactivities after simulated intestinal absorption has correlated with a decrease of Leu, Ile, Arg, Tyr, Gln and Pro. The sequence of FOPs that pass readily through the intestinal epithelium corresponds to transport modes, and FOPs whose sequences remain unchanged after transport are the most bioactive. These include mainly dipeptides to tetrapeptides, consisting of numerous hydrophobic and basic amino acids, found mostly at the end of the peptide chain, especially at the C-terminal. This review aims to provide a foundation for applications of FOPs in nutritional supplements and functional foods.

Egg White Peptides Accelerating the Wound Healing Process Through Modulating the PI3K-AKT Pathway: A Joint Analysis of Transcriptomic and Proteomic

Wound healing is a multiphase process with a complex repair mechanism; trauma-repairing products with safety and high efficiency have a great market demand. Egg white peptides (EWP) have various physiological regulatory functions and have been proven efficient in ameliorating skin damage. However, their underlying regulation mechanism has not been revealed. This study further evaluated the EWP ameliorating mechanism by conducting a full-thickness skin wound model. Results demonstrated that EWP administration significantly inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory and shortened the inflammatory phase. Besides, EWP can accelerate the secretion of growth factors (PDGF, VEGF, and TGF-β1) in skin tissue, significantly increasing the regeneration of granulation tissue and endothelium in the proliferation phase, thereby promoting wound healing. After 400 mg/kg EWP interventions for 13 days postoperation, the wound healing rate reached 90%. The combination of transcriptomic and proteomic analyses demonstrated the ameliorating efficiency effects of EWP on wound healing. EWP mainly participates in the functional network with the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway as the core to accelerate wound healing. These findings suggest a promising EWP-based strategy for accelerating wound healing.

Superporous soy protein isolate matrices as superabsorbent dressings for successful management of highly exuding wounds: In vitro and in vivo characterization

Soy protein isolate (SPI) has received widespread attention of the biomedical research community primarily due to its good biocompatibility, biodegradability, high availability and low cost. Herein, glutaraldehyde cross-linked microporous sponge-like SPI scaffolds were prepared using the cryogelation technique for tissue engineering applications. The prepared SPI scaffolds possess an interconnected porous structure with approximately 90% porosity and an average pore size in the range of 45-92 μm. The morphology, porosity, swelling capacity and degradation rate of the cryogels were found to be dependent on the concentration of polymer to crosslinking agent. All cryogels were found to be elastic and able to maintain physical integrity even after being compressed to one-fifth of their original length during cyclic compression analysis. These cryogels showed excellent mechanical properties, immediate water-triggered shape restoration and absorption speed. Furthermore, cryogels outperformed cotton and gauze in terms of blood clotting and blood cell adherence. The in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated the potency of SPI scaffolds for skin tissue engineering applications. Our findings showed that crosslinking with glutaraldehyde had no detrimental effects on cell viability. In addition, an in vivo wound healing study in rats validated them as good potential wound dressing materials.

Design and Investigation of an Eco-Friendly Wound Dressing Composed of Green Bioresources- Soy Protein, Tapioca Starch, and Gellan Gum

In the fields of biomedicine and tissue engineering, natural polymer-based tissue-engineered scaffolds are used in multiple applications. As a plant-derived polymer, soy protein, containing multiple amino acids, is structurally similar to components of the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of tissues. It is biological safety provided a good potential to be material for pure natural scaffolds. Moreover, as a protein, the properties of soy protein can be easily adjusted by modifying the functional groups on it. In addition, by blending soy protein with other synthetic and natural polymers, the mechanical characteristics and bioactive behavior of scaffolds can be facilitated for a variety of bio-applications. In this research, soy protein and polysaccharides tapioca starch are used, and gellan gum to develop a protein-based composite scaffold for cell engineering. The morphology and surface chemical composition are characterized via micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The soy/tapioca/gellan gum (STG) composite scaffolds selectively help the adhesion and proliferation of L929 fibroblast cells while improving the migration of L929 fibroblast cells in STG composite scaffolds as the increase of soy protein proportion of the scaffold. In addition, STG composite scaffolds show great potential in the wound healing model to enhance rapid epithelialization and tissue granulation.

Computer-Aided Screening and Revealing Action Mechanism of Food-Derived Tripeptides Intervention in Acute Colitis

Food-derived tripeptides can relieve colitis symptoms; however, their alleviation mode has not been systematically evaluated as an alternative nutritional compound. This study aimed to reveal the potential mechanism of 8000 food-derived tripeptides against acute colitis using a computer-aided screening strategy. Forty-one potential hub targets related to colitis with a Fit score > 4.0 were screened to construct the protein-protein and protein-tripeptide network based on the PharmMapper database and STRING software (Ver. 11.5). In addition, 30 significant KEGG signaling pathways with p-values < 0.001 that the 41 hub targets mainly participated in were identified using DAVID software (Ver. 6.8), including inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and cell proliferation and differentiation-related signaling pathways, particularly in the Ras- and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed using the Autodock against majorly targeted proteins (AKT1, EGFR, and MMP9) with the selected 52 tripeptides. The interaction model between tripeptides and targets was mainly hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions, and most of the binding energy of the tripeptide target was less than −7.13 kcal/mol. This work can provide valuable insight for exploring food-derived tripeptide mechanisms and therapeutic indications.

Anti-Inflammatory Function of Plant-Derived Bioactive Peptides: A Review

Inflammation is considered to be a crucial factor in the development of chronic diseases, eight of which were listed among the top ten causes of death worldwide in the World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics 2019. Moreover, traditional drugs for inflammation are often linked to undesirable side effects. As gentler alternatives to traditional anti-inflammatory drugs, plant-derived bioactive peptides have been shown to be effective interventions against various chronic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, an adequate and systematic review of the structures and anti-inflammatory activities of plant-derived bioactive peptides has been lacking. This paper reviews the latest research on plant-derived anti-inflammatory peptides (PAPs), mainly including the specific regulatory mechanisms of PAPs; the structure–activity relationships of PAPs; and their enzymatic processing based on the structure–activity relationships. Moreover, current research problems for PAPs are discussed, such as the shallow exploration of mechanisms, enzymatic solution determination difficulty, low yield and unknown in vivo absorption and metabolism and proposed future research directions. This work aims to provide a reference for functional activity research, nutritional food development and the clinical applications of PAPs.

Bacterial cellulose/soybean protein isolate composites with promoted inflammation inhibition, angiogenesis and hair follicle regeneration for wound healing

Soybean protein, as a safe and low-cost alternative to animal protein, attracts increasing attention in wound healing. In the present study, beta-conglycinin (7S) and glycinin (11S) with high solubility were obtained through separation of soybean protein. Afterward, 7S or 11S modified bacterial cellulose (BC) composites were produced by self-assembly method. Results confirmed the successful self-assembly of soybean protein isolates on the nanofibers of BC. The surface roughness and hydrophilicity of BC/7S and BC/11S decreased compared with native BC. Soybean protein could be steadily released from BC/7S and BC/11S and BC/11S released more soybean proteins than BC/7S. In vitro, BC/7S and BC/11S supported fibroblasts attachment and promoted fibroblasts proliferation and type I collagen expression. In vivo, BC/7S and BC/11S facilitated wound healing and collagen deposition, enhanced angiogenesis and hair follicle regeneration, as well as reduced scar formation and inflammation in full-thickness skin wounds of rats. Moreover, wounds treated with BC/11S showed a faster wound healing rate and more collagen depositions than those of BC/7S, which may be attributed to the larger considerable amount of soybean protein released by BC/11S. These results indicate that BC/7S and BC/11S are potential candidates for wound dressings.

Designing Double-Layer Multi-Material Composite Patch Scaffold with Adhesion Resistance for Hernia Repair

Hernia repair mesh is associated with a number of complications, including adhesions and limited mobility, due to insufficient mechanical strength and non-resorbability. Among them, visceral adhesions are one of the most serious complications of patch repair. In this study, a degradable patch with an anti-adhesive layer was prepared for hernia repair by 3D printing and electrospinning techniques using polycaprolactone (PCL), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and soybean peptide (SP). The study into the physicochemical properties of the patch was found that it had adequate mechanical strength requirements (16 N cm^-1 ) and large elongation at break, which were superior than commercial polypropylene (PP) patches. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) proliferated well on composite patches, and showed excellent biocompatibility with the host and little adhesion through a rat abdominal wall defect model. In conclusion, the results of this study show that composite patch can effectively reduce the occurrence of adhesions, while the addition of SP in the patch further enhances its biocompatibility. We believe that a regenerative biological patch with great potential in hernia repair provides a new strategy for the development of new biomimetic biodegradable patches. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Immunomodulatory effects of selenium-enriched peptides from soybean in cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice

In this study, selenium-enriched soybean peptides (<3 kDa, named Se-SPep) was isolated and purified from the selenium-enriched soybean protein (Se-SPro) hydrolysate by ultrafiltration. The in-vivo immunomodulatory effects of Se-SPep were investigated in cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice. Se-SPep treatment could alleviate the atrophy of immune organs and weight loss observed in immunosuppressive mice. Besides, Se-SPep administration could dramatically improve total protein, albumin, white blood cell, immunoglobulin (Ig) M, IgG, and IgA levels in blood. Moreover, Se-SPep strongly stimulated interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), nitric oxide (NO), and cyclic guanosine monophosphate productions by up-regulating mRNA expressions of IL-2, IFN-γ, and inducible NO synthase in spleen tissue. Furthermore, Se-SPep exhibits more effective immunomodulatory activity compared to Se-SPro and SPep. In conclusion, Se-SPep could effectively enhance the immune capacity of immunosuppressive mice. These findings confirm Se-SPep is an effective immunomodulator with potential application in functional foods or dietary supplements.

Supplementation of egg white peptides on attenuating skin mechanical damage symptoms: a promising way to accelerate wound healing process

Recent studies have indicated that active peptides can induce an improvement in wound repair. Herein, we evaluated egg white peptides (EWPs) as a nutritional supplement to improve mechanical skin damage in BALB/c mice. Two symmetrical circular full-thickness wounds were created with 5 mm biopsy punches in the skin of the mouse dorsal region, and EWPs (200, and 400 mg kg^-1) were administrated by gavage for 14 days. We analyzed the EWPs for their in vivo and in vitro antioxidant capability, toxicity, and microscopy of skin wounds, and there was no cytotoxicity or in vivo toxicity. During the period of wound healing, EWPs could promote healthy cell migration, increase serum superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and accelerate the wound healing process in a time- and dose-dependent manner, whereas the levels of malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species showed the opposite trend. After administration with 400 mg kg^-1 EWPs for 10 days, the wound had almost healed. Meanwhile, EWPs significantly enhanced serum amino acids, particularly enhancing the content of Arg, Glu, Pro, Met, and Lys, which could provide sufficient nutrition in the wound healing process. The present study demonstrates that EWPs possess a positive potential to accelerate the wound healing process of mechanical skin damage at the cellular and animal level.

Potential targets and the action mechanism of food-derived dipeptides on colitis: network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis

The present study provides an efficient method for screening food-derived dipeptides to attenuate colitis based on the network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis.