A peptide of amaranth was targeted as containing a sequence with potential anti-inflammatory propertie

MORONTA J; SMALDINI P; DOCENA, G; AÑON, MARÍA CRISTINA

Journal of Functional Foods

Elsevier SRL

Año: 2016 vol. 21 p. 463 - 473

The immunomodulatory effect of amaranth peptides on epithelial cells activated throughthe NF-κB signalling pathway was examined. Results showed that extensive protein hydrolysis from amaranth (23 and 30% degree of hydrolysis) reduced the emission of light in bacterial flagellin-activated Caco-2 CCL20: luc cells (Caco-2 cells transfected with a luciferase reporter under the control of the CCL20 promoter) compared with the non-hydrolysed protein.Purification of the most active peptide fractions by HPLC chromatography and sequencingshowed that the peptide SSEDIKE possessed a modulatory capacity on activated cells to suppress the expression of mRNA coding for CCL20. This peptide was non-toxic for cells. These findings indicated that the peptide SSEDIKE derived from proteins of amaranth attenuated the activation of human intestinal epithelial cell, and hence amaranth proteins could be included in functional foods as a source of bioactive peptides with health promoting properties.