The combined anticancer of peanut skin procyanidins and resveratrol to CACO-2 colorectal cancer cells.

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Currently, chemotherapy is the primary way for colorectal cancer, but with severe side effects. Therefore, it is urgent to find safer and more effective adjuvant treatment methods. At present, natural active substances are promising alternatives, as numerous studies have demonstrated possible synergistic anticancer effects in plant-active polyphenols. In the present study, the combined effect of procyanidins (PC) (from peanut skin) and resveratrol (RES) (from peanut buds) on the synergistic anticancer potential was investigated. CACO-2 and HCT-8 cells were served as colorectal cancer models, and HEPG-2 and HUH-7 cells were served as liver cancer models to observe the effects of PC and RES alone or in combination on the growth and proliferation of these four types of cancer cells. The results revealed that both PC and RES could inhibit the cells' proliferation in a manner with concentration-dependent, but they exerted synergistic anticancer effects only on CACO-2 cells. PC and RES could synergistically inhibit CACO-2 cell clone formation, inducing apoptosis of CACO-2 cells and blocking their cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. Additionally, as observed by the results of Western blot assay, the combined effect of PC and RES also inhibited the phosphorylation of Thr308, Ser473, and ERK and promoted the phosphorylation of IKBα and NF-κB in CACO-2 cells. These findings collectively indicate that PC combined with RES might exert synergistic anticancer effects by regulating AKT, ERK, and NF-κB signaling pathways.

Antioxidant activity and protective effect of wheat germ peptides in an in vitro celiac disease model via Keap1/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Celiac disease (CD) is an allergic intestinal disease caused primarily by gliadin and is widespread in the population. Alpha gliadin peptide causes cellular damage by substantially increasing cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. In this study, we examined the protective effect of 25 wheat germ peptides (WGPs) on the ɑ-gliadin peptide (P31-43)-treated Caco-2 cells. The experimental results showed that three peptides, WGP2, WGP7, and WGP11, significantly promoted cell viability and greatly alleviated the damage of Caco-2 cells by P31-43. According the assay of ROS, The three WGPS significantly reduced ROS to normal levels, which were elevated by P31-43 peptide. The results in terms of antioxidant-related enzymes showed that WGPs significantly increased catalase (CAT), Glutathione Reductases (GR), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and Glutathione (GSH)/ oxidized Glutathione (GSSG) levels, thus significantly enhancing the antioxidant level of cells. By studying the key protein expression levels of the Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)/NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, the results show that WGPs could activate Nrf2 and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) up-regulation. For glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier (GCLM), WGP2 and WGP7 lead to its down-regulation, while WGP11 leads to its significant up-regulation.The present study found that peptides from wheat germ can effectively mitigate the cellular damage induced by the ɑ-gliadin peptide, which provides a new perspective for the prevention and treatment of CD.