Immunomodulatory, Anticancer, and Antioxidative Activities of Bioactive Peptide Fractions from Enzymatically Hydrolyzed White Jellyfish (Lobonema smithii)

Phitchapa Prommasith; Utoomporn Surayot; Narongchai Autsavapromporn; Weerawan Rod-In; Pornchai Rachtanapun; Sutee Wangtueai

doi:10.3390/foods13213350

Immunomodulatory, Anticancer, and Antioxidative Activities of Bioactive Peptide Fractions from Enzymatically Hydrolyzed White Jellyfish (Lobonema smithii)

Foods. 2024 Oct 22;13(21):3350. doi: 10.3390/foods13213350.

Authors

Phitchapa Prommasith¹, Utoomporn Surayot^{1

2}, Narongchai Autsavapromporn³, Weerawan Rod-In⁴, Pornchai Rachtanapun⁵, Sutee Wangtueai^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
² Cluster of Innovation for Sustainable Seafood Industry and Value Chain Management, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
³ Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁴ Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture Natural Resources and Environment, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand.
⁵ Division of Packaging Technology, School of Agro-Industry, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.

Abstract

This study aimed to develop bioactive protein hydrolysates from low-value edible jellyfish obtained from local fisheries using enzymatic hydrolysis. Fresh white jellyfish were hydrolyzed using several commercial proteases, including alcalase (WJH-Al), flavourzyme (WJH-Fl), and papain (WJH-Pa). The antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities of these white jellyfish hydrolysates (WJH) were investigated. The results demonstrated that the crude WJH exhibited strong antioxidant properties, including DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, as well as ferric-reducing antioxidant power. Additionally, the hydrolysates showed notable immunomodulatory activity. However, all WJH samples displayed relatively low ability to inhibit HepG2 cell proliferation at the tested concentrations. Among the hydrolysates, WJH-Pa demonstrated the highest antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities and was therefore selected for further bioactive peptide isolation and characterization. Ultrafiltration membranes with three molecular weight (MW) cut-offs (1, 3, 10 kDa) were used for peptide fractionation from WJH-Pa. Six potential peptides were identified with the MW range of 1049-1292 Da, comprising 9-12 residues, which exhibited strong antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities.

Keywords: anticancer; antioxidant; immunomodulation; jellyfish; peptides; protein hydrolysate.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by CMU Mid-Career Research Fellowship program, Chiang Mai University, The Thailand Research Fund (TRF) Research Team Promotion Grant, RTA, Senior Research Scholar (N42A671052) and TA/RA Scholarship, Chiang Mai University.