Bovine α-lactalbumin (α-La) contains numerous dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitory peptides sequences within its primary structure. In silico analysis indicated that the targeted hydrolysis of α-La with elastase should release DPP-IV inhibitory peptide sequences. An α-La isolate was hydrolysed with elastase under different conditions using an experimental design approach incorporating 3 factors (temperature, pH and enzyme to substrate ratio (E:S) ratio) at 2 levels. The hydrolyzate generated at pH 8.5, 50C, E:S 2.0% (w/w) (H9) displayed the lowest half maximal DPP-IV inhibitory concentration (IC50 = 1.20 ± 0.12 mg mL -1). Five α-La-derived DPP-IV inhibitory peptides (GY, GL, GI, NY and WL) predicted to be released in silico were identified by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) within H9 and its simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SGID) sample. This proof of concept study demonstrated the benefit of using a targeted approach combined with an experimental design in the generation of dietary protein hydrolyzates with DPP-IV inhibitory properties.
IntroductionDipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) is an ubiquitous enzyme which is responsible for the cleavage and inactivation of the incretin hormones, glucose dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) 1 . In the context of type 2 diabetes management, DPP-IV inhibition may be used as a means to improve the regulation of serum glucose in humans. Various DPP-IV inhibitory drugs (gliptins), have been developed to maintain the insulinotropic activity of the incretins in the post-prandial phase 2 .Dietary components, including food protein-derived peptides, have been shown to play a role in the inhibition of DPP-IV in vitro and in certain instances in vivo, for reviews, see: 3,4,5 . In silico studies have shown that selected DPP-IV inhibitory peptide sequences may be found within a wide range of dietary proteins 6,7 . To date, milk proteins appear to be the most frequently studied substrate for the generation of DPP-IV inhibitory peptides. Depending on the enzymatic strategy employed, different milk proteins may appear to be more suitable substrates for the production of DPP-IV inhibitory peptides. For instance, it was recently predicted by Tulipano et al.8 using in silico digestion with gastrointestinal proteinases that -lactoglobulin (-Lg) should yield a higher number of previously identified DPP-IV inhibitory peptides than -La. This was further confirmed following in vitro digestion of -Lg and -La with gastrointestinal enzymes, yielding hydrolyzates with IC 50 values of 0.74 and 1.70 mg mL -1, respectively 8 . Other in silico analysis of the major milk proteins indicated that -lactalbumin (-La) displayed the highest level of sequence coverage (43.9%) for previously identified DPP-IV inhibitory peptides as well as the highest DPP-IV inhibitory potency index (i.e., 17.9 10 -6 µM -1 g -1 ) 7 . It has been suggested that discrepancies between studies to determine the most adequate substrate for the genera...