In Vitro Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion Stability of a Neuroprotective Octapeptide WCPFSRSF and Prediction of Potential Bioactive Peptides in Its Digestive Fragments by Multiple Bioinformatics Tools

Abstract

WCPFSRSF, an octapeptide (Trp-Cys-Pro-Phe-Ser-Arg-Ser-Phe), has been reported to improve memory in mice, but its gastrointestinal stability is unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the gastrointestinal stability of peptide WCPFSRSF and explore the neuroprotective potential of its digestive fragments. Results showed that the content of WCPFSRSF after gastric and gastrointestinal digestion decreased to 71.64% and less than 1%, respectively. Furthermore, the antioxidant and neuroprotective ability of WCPFSRSF were also affected. Eleven and nine peptides were identified in its gastric and gastrointestinal digestive products, respectively. Multiple bioinformatics tools in combination with principal component analysis were employed to assess the physicochemical and structural properties of peptides. Novel peptides generated after gastrointestinal digestion could be classified into three groups: the first group had high bioactivity and bioavailability; the second group had high amphiphilicity, charge, and net hydrogen; and the third group had a long peptide chain. In addition, the representative peptides WCPF and SR showed neuroprotective ability.

A Comparative Study of the Stability, Transport, and Structure–Activity Relationship of Round Scad Derived Peptides with Antineuroinflammatory Ability

“…Collectively, the ability of peptides to inhibit neuroinflammation via JAK2/STAT3 signaling was graded as WCPF > WCP > SR. It was consistent with the fact that WCPF has a higher cell-survival-promoting ability than SR in SH-SY5Y cells . It may be related to the strong ADMET property and potential bioactivity of WCPF .…”

“…The neuroinflammatory response is characterized by the activation of microglia and increased cytokine levels, which aggravate neuronal cell death and neurodegeneration . In a prior study, we found that peptide WCPFSRSF improved memory decline by preventing neuroinflammation, and WCPFSRSF predominantly decomposed into two groups of neuroprotective peptides with distinct characteristics in the gastrointestinal tract . Currently, the mechanisms underlying the differences between these peptides remain unknown.…”

“…Molecular docking was carried out with AutoDock tools and PyMol 1.7, and the docking was conducted as described previously . The structures of the proteins were received from the PDB database.…”

“…Studies suggested that protein hydrolyzates (MW < 1 kDa) exert strong neuroprotection . We previously identified two groups of novel neuroprotective peptides from round scad peptides with different characteristics, and the physicochemical properties of these peptides have an impact on their neuroprotection . However, the underlying mechanism is currently unclear.…”

Isolation, Identification, Activity Evaluation, and Mechanism of Action of Neuroprotective Peptides from Walnuts: A Review

“…Similarly, the antioxidant peptide, AEEEYPDL, was broken down into smaller peptides, AEEEY and PDL, after simulated gastrointestinal digestion, leading to the loss of its antioxidant activity. Zhao et al [ 110 ] investigated the impact of in vitro-simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the biological activity of the neuroprotective octapeptide, WCPFSRSF. They were able to identify eight novel peptides, namely, WCP, WCPF, WCPFS, PF, PFS, SR, SRS, and WCPFSRS, from the final digestive production.…”