A Novel Peptide Derived from Arca inflata Induces Apoptosis in Colorectal Cancer Cells through Mitochondria and the p38 MAPK Pathway.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the major causes of cancer-related incidence and deaths. Here, we identified a novel antitumor peptide, P6, with a molecular weight of 2794.8 Da from a marine Chinese medicine, Arca inflata Reeve. The full amino acid sequence and secondary structure of P6 were determined by tandem mass de novo sequencing and circular dichroism spectroscopy, respectively. P6 markedly inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation, and induced apoptosis in CRC cells. Mechanistically, transcriptomics analysis and a serial functional evaluation showed that P6 induced colon cancer cell apoptosis through the activation of the p38-MAPK signaling pathway. Moreover, it was demonstrated that P6 exhibited antitumor effects in a tumor xenograft model, and induced cell cycle arrest in CRC cells in a concentration-dependent mode. These findings provide the first line of indication that P6 could be a potential therapeutic agent for CRC treatment.

Antibacterial Activity of AI-Hemocidin 2, a Novel N-Terminal Peptide of Hemoglobin Purified from Arca inflata.

The continued emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in recent years is of great concern. The search for new classes of antibacterial agents has expanded to non-traditional sources such as shellfish. An antibacterial subunit of hemoglobin (Hb-I) was purified from the mantle of Arcainflata by phosphate extraction and ion exchange chromatography. A novel antibacterial peptide, AI-hemocidin 2, derived from Hb-I, was discovered using bioinformatics analysis. It displayed antibacterial activity across a broad spectrum of microorganisms, including several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 37.5 to 300 µg/mL, and it exhibited minimal hemolytic or cytotoxic activities. The antibacterial activity of AI-hemocidin 2 was thermostable (25-100 °C) and pH resistant (pH 3-10). The cellular integrity was determined by flow cytometry. AI-hemocidin 2 was capable of permeating the cellular membrane. Changes in the cell morphology were observed with a scanning electron microscope. Circular dichroism spectra suggested that AI-hemocidin 2 formed an α-helix structure in the membrane mimetic environment. The results indicated that the anti-bacterial mechanism for AI-hemocidin 2 occurred through disrupting the cell membrane. AI-hemocidin 2 might be a potential candidate for tackling antibiotic resistant bacteria.

A highly branched α-d-glucan facilitates antitumor immunity by reducing cancer cell CXCL5 expression.

Tumor immunotherapy has emerged as a major pillar of anticancer therapeutic strategies. Natural polysaccharides, known for their strong immunomodulatory activities with relatively low cost and toxicity, are becoming promising prospects for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we investigated the antitumor mechanism of JNY2PW, a highly branched α-d-glucan previously purified from the traditional marine Chinese medicine Arca inflata. JNY2PW was shown to enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to co-culture macrophage supernatants by decreasing cancer cell CXCL5 expression. Furthermore, JNY2PW exerted antitumor effects without obvious toxic side effects in tumor-bearing mice by triggering the Akt/mTOR and ERK/GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathways and attenuating expression of CXCL5 in cancer cells. Remarkably, JNY2PW reduced tumor proliferation and dampened CXCL5 expression in tumor cells overexpressing CXCL5 both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, JNY2PW blocked epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in both CXCL5-overexpressing and wild type tumor cells. Our data therefore uncovered a previously unrecognized antitumor mechanism for JNY2PW, suggesting that JNY2PW is a promising adjuvant as an immunomodulator for cancer immunotherapy.

Purification and characterization of a novel ß-1,3-glucanase from Arca inflata and its immune-enhancing effects.

A novel ß-1,3-glucanase from Arca inflata was purified using chromatography methods. It was determined as a glycoprotein comprising 23.65% carbohydrate content with O-linked glycan and showed specific activity of 90.01 ±â€¯1.2 U/mg against laminarin. The optimal pH and temperature for the activity of the glucanase were 6.0 and 40 °C, respectively. The affinity parameter of the glucanase using laminarin was determined as Kd = 13.09 µM. The activity of the glucanase was 27 ±â€¯2.6% enhanced by 2-mM Mn2+ ions and inhibited by 40-50% using 2-mM Zn2+, Cu2+, or Ba2+ ions. The glucanase showed an endo-type cleavage mode and hydrolyzed laminarin into glucoses, disaccharides, trioligosaccharides, and tetraoligosaccharides. Otherwise, the glucanase exhibited immune-enhancing effects via significantly increasing the phagocytic activity of macrophages and inducing the release of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin-6 in RAW264.7 cells. It might be used as a bifunctional additive for the food industry.

Purification and structural characterization of a novel antioxidant and antibacterial protein from Arca inflata.

A novel protein (J2-C4) with antioxidant and antibacterial activities was purified from the edible portion of Arca inflata. The purity of J2-C4 was measured to be 97.62% by RP-HPLC analysis, and the molecular weight was 20,537.0 Da by ESI-MS/MS. The isoelectric point of J2-C4 was determined to be 5.18 by IEF-PAGE. Secondary structure analysis of J2-C4 showed that it contained 34.9% α-helix, 15.0% ß-sheet, 16.3% ß-turn and 34.0% random coil by CD spectroscopy. The complete amino acid sequence of J2-C4 was identified by gel electrophoresis and LC-MS/MS together with transcriptome database analysis. Based on the alignment with NCBI BLAST database, J2-C4 showed 71% homology with a sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein isolated from Crassostrea virginica. Therefore, J2-C4 was proposed to be a new sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein-like protein in A. inflata. In vitro antioxidant assays showed that J2-C4 exhibited favorable scavenging activities on ABTS+ (EC50 145.80 µg/mL) and DPPH (EC50 455.62 µg/mL). J2-C4 exhibited antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC: 375 µg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC: 187.5 µg/mL) and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MIC: 750 µg/mL). The results showed that J2-C4 might be developed as a potential food additive agent.

Purification and structural characterization of a novel anti-tumor protein from Arca inflata.

A novel in vitro anti-tumor protein (J2-C2) with a molecular weight of 27,153.0Da was isolated from the edible portion of Arca inflata. Physical and structural properties of J2-C2 were characterized using physicochemical and instrumental analyses. Gel electrophoresis analysis showed that J2-C2 is a homogeneous, monomeric protein with an isoelectric point of 6.3. The purity of the isolated native J2-C2 was >99%, as determined by RP-HPLC. The carbohydrate content assay showed that J2-C2 was not a glycoprotein. The FT-IR spectrum of J2-C2 gave characteristic amide absorption bands at 1645.71 and 1541.46cm-1. Secondary structure analysis by CD spectroscopy revealed that J2-C2 had 34.0% α-helix, 27.5% ß-sheet, 13.4% ß-turn and 25.1% random coil. In-gel and nano ESI-MS/MS sequencing analysis combined with transcriptome unigene analysis yielded the complete amino acid sequence of J2-C2. Aligning with NCBI BLAST database, J2-C2 showed 77% homology with predicted triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) derived from Crassostrea gigas. Therefore, J2-C2 was considered to be a new TIM-like protein in A. inflata. The anti-tumor effect of J2-C2 against three human tumor cells was measured by MTT assay, and the IC50 values of J2-C2 were 42.38, 45.64 and 48.73µM against A549, HepG2 and SPC-A-1 cell lines, respectively.