Antiproliferative Rapeseed Defatted Meal Protein and Their Hydrolysates on MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells and Human Fibroblasts

Defatted rapeseed meal (DRM) is a sub-valorized agro-industrial by-product, with a high protein content whose peptides could have potential anticancer activity against cancer cell lines. The objective of the present study is to obtain an enzymatic hydrolysate of rapeseed protein that inhibits proliferation on a breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), but not healthy human fibroblast cells. The DRM was solubilized in an alkaline medium to obtain an alkaline rapeseed extract (RAE). Acid precipitation of the proteins contained in RAE recovered a rapeseed protein isolate (RPI). To produce protein hydrolysates, two alkaline protease and different enzyme/substrate ratios were used. All the protein hydrolysates showed antiproliferative activity on MCF-7 cells. However, only the hydrolysate recovered from the enzymatic hydrolysis of RPI (Degree of hydrolysis (DH ) between 8.5 and 9% (DH1)) did not affect human fibroblast cells, inhibiting 83.9% of MCF-7 cells' proliferation and showing a mass yield of 22.9% (based on the initial DRM). The SDS-PAGE gel revealed that DH1 was composed mainly of 10 kDa peptides and, to a lesser extent, 5 and 2 kDa. It is concluded that DH1 is a promising peptide extract for future research as a putative anti-breast cancer agent.

Automated summary

The study aimed to obtain an enzymatic hydrolysate of rapeseed protein that inhibits proliferation of breast cancer cells, while not affecting healthy human fibroblast cells. One of the hydrolysates showed anti-proliferative activity on MCF-7 cells, with a composition mainly consisting of 10 kDa peptides. This particular hydrolysate, DH1, has the potential to be a promising peptide extract for future research as a possible anti-breast cancer agent.