Preparation and antioxidant activities in vitro of designed antioxidant peptide from Pinctada fucata by recombinant Escherichia coli.

An antioxidant peptide derived from Pinctada fucata meat using an Alcalase2.4L enzymatic hydrolysis method (named AOP) and identified by LC-TOF-MS has promising clinical potential for generating cosmetic products that protect skin from sunshine. To date, there have been few published studies investigating the structure-activity relationship in these peptides. To prepare antioxidant peptides better and improve their stability, the design and expression of an antioxidant peptide from Pinctada fucata (named DSAOP) was studied. The peptide contains a common precursor of an expression vector containing an α-helix tandemly linked according to the BamH I restriction sites. The DNA fragments encoding DSAOP were synthesized and sub-cloned into the expression vector pET-30a (+), and the peptide was expressed mostly as soluble protein in recombinant Escherichia coli. Meanwhile, DPPH radical scavenging activity, superoxide radical scavenging activity and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of DSAOP IC₅₀ values were 0.136±0.006 mg/mL, 0.625±0.025 mg/mL and 0.306±0.015 mg/mL, respectively, with twofold higher DPPH radical scavenging activity compared to chemosynthesis-AOP (p<0.05), as well as higher superoxide radical scavenging activity compared to natural-AOP (p<0.05). This preparation method was at the international advanced level. Furthermore, pilot scale production results showed that DSAOP was expressed successfully in fermenter cultures, which indicated that the design strategy and expression methods would be useful for obtaining substantial amounts of stable peptides with low costs. These results showed that DSAOP produced with recombinant Escherichia coli could be useful in cosmetic skin care products, health foods, and pharmaceuticals.