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Antiproliferative Effect of Amaranth Proteins and Peptides on HT-29 Human Colon Tumor Cell Line

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Abstract

Antiproliferative effect of Amaranthus mantegazzianus proteins and peptides released after simulated gastrointestinal digestion (DH% 37.8 ± 3.8) was investigated on human colon cancer cell line HT-29. Inhibition of proliferation of HT-29 cells was exhibited after a 24 h treatment with different concentrations of amaranth protein isolate (API) and the peptides released after digestion (DGS), presenting IC50 values of 1.35 ± 0.12 and 0.30 ± 0.07 mg soluble protein/mL, respectively. Lactate dehydrogenase assay indicated that both samples caused the loss of membrane integrity and cell lysis over HT-29 cells, and DAPI fluorescence microscopies evidenced typical apoptotic features. Moreover, Annexin V-FITC flow cytometry showed a significant increase of early apoptotic and late apoptotic/necrotic HT-29 cells compared to untreated ones, and caspase-3 assay confirmed the apoptosis induction with a 43.0 ± 10.3 and 65.8 ± 12.7% increase of caspase-3 activity produced by a 2 mg/mL treatment of API and DGS, respectively. In conclusion, amaranth peptides successfully released after simulated gastrointestinal digestion would exert a potential antiproliferative activity over HT-29 tumor cells. This effect was linked to the induction of cell necrosis and apoptosis, supporting the idea of using amaranth proteins as a potential food alternative ingredient for functional foods.

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Abbreviations

DGS:

Amaranth peptides released after simulated gastrointestinal digestion

API:

Amaranth protein isolate

DH%:

Degree of hydrolysis

LDH:

Lactate dehydrogenase

DAPI:

2-(4-Amidinophenyl)-6-indolecarbamidinedihydrochloride, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride

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Acknowledgments

Authors are very grateful for the contribution of the researcher Dr. Hongnan Sun.

Funding

This work was supported by International PICT “Vegetable proteins as a source of functional and healthy ingredients” under China-Argentina Binational Center in Food Science and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (No. KY201401005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos (CIDCA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas-UNLP, CONICET, CIC, Calle 47 y 116 - 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Ana Clara Sabbione, Adriana Scilingo & María Cristina Añón

  2. Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Nutrition Science, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, N°2 Yuan Ming Yuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China

    Fredrick Onyango Ogutu, Miao Zhang & Tai-Hua Mu

Authors
  1. Ana Clara Sabbione
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  2. Fredrick Onyango Ogutu
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  3. Adriana Scilingo
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  4. Miao Zhang
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  5. María Cristina Añón
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to María Cristina Añón or Tai-Hua Mu.

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Authors Ana Clara Sabbione, Fredrick Onyango Ogutu, Adriana Scilingo, Zhang Miao, María Cristina Añón and Tai-Hua Mu, declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Sabbione, A.C., Ogutu, F.O., Scilingo, A. et al. Antiproliferative Effect of Amaranth Proteins and Peptides on HT-29 Human Colon Tumor Cell Line. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 74, 107–114 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-018-0708-8

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