Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important mediator molecules of the innate defense mechanisms in a wide range of living organisms, including bacteria, mammals, and plants. Among them, peptide protease inhibitors (PPIs) from plants play a central role in their defense mechanisms by directly attacking pathogens or by modulating the plant's defense response. The growing prevalence of microbial resistance to currently available antibiotics has intensified the interest concerning these molecules as novel antimicrobial agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungal infections are a growing public health concern worldwide and the emergence of antifungal resistance has limited the number of therapeutic options. Therefore, developing novel strategies for identifying and developing new antifungal compounds is an active area of research in the pharmaceutical industry. In this study, we purified and characterized a trypsin protease inhibitor obtained from Yellow Bell Pepper ( L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChia expeller is a promising source of bioactive compounds suitable for the development of nutraceutical ingredients due to its functional, biological, and nutritional properties. In this work, chia expeller was hydrolysed with Alcalase-Flavourzyme sequential system and compared to the individual enzymes. A higher degree of hydrolysis (57.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, many attempts have been made to find new plant proteases to make artisan cheeses. The global increase in cheese consumption, together with a lower supply and increasing cost of calf rennet, religious factors (Islam and Judaism) and food choices (vegetarianism) have led to the search for suitable rennet substitutes for milk clotting. This study describes the milk-clotting and hydrolytic activities of an aspartic protease from Salpichroa origanifolia fruits (SoAP) on individual caseins to explore its potential use as an alternative to animal rennet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a xerophilous deciduous tree present in most arid forests of southern South America, which is commonly used in traditional medicine. The seeds of this tree have been previously investigated for their singular chemical composition, but their protein content has been poorly investigated. Herein, we report the isolation, purification, and characterization of a set of thermostable peptides derived from seeds (GdAPs) with strong antioxidant and anticoagulant activities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant cystatins (or phytocystatins) comprise a large superfamily of natural bioactive small proteins that typically act as protein inhibitors of papain-like cysteine proteases. In this report, we present the purification and characterization of the first phytocystatin isolated from (MoPI). MoPI has a molecular mass of 19 kDa and showed an extraordinary physicochemical stability against acidic pHs and high temperatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
April 2020
Protease inhibitors (PIs) have been traditionally recognized by their potential biomedical application in events with exacerbation of endogenous proteases activity. Plant PIs have gained interest as naturally occurring molecules, which usually show lower environmental impact residual toxicity than synthetic compounds. In this work, we isolated, cloned, expressed and purified a novel trypsin inhibitor from S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtease inhibitors (PIs) are regulatory proteins found in numerous animal tissues and fluids, plants, and microorganisms that reduce and inhibit the exacerbated and uncontrolled activity of the target proteases. Specific PIs are also effective tools for inactivating proteases involved in human diseases like arthritis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, cancer, AIDS, thrombosis, emphysema, hypertension, and muscular dystrophy among others. Plant PIs-small peptides with a high content of cystine residues in disulfide bridges-possess a remarkable resistance to heat treatment and a high stability against shifts in pH, denaturing agents, ionic strength, and proteolysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel thermostable trypsin inhibitor was obtained from Geoffroea decorticans seeds. G. decorticans trypsin inhibitor (GdTI) is a protein with molecular mass of 6743.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChia expeller is a by-product of the extrusion process of chia seeds generated during oil production. Typically, this material is non-utilized or used for non-valuable applications. In the present work, the chia expeller was hydrolysed with Papain and the antioxidant properties of the resultant peptides were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCystine-knot miniproteins (CKMPs) are an intriguing group of cysteine-rich molecules that combine the characteristics of proteins and peptides. Typically, CKMPs are fewer than 50 residues in length and share a characteristic knotted scaffold characterized by the presence of three intramolecular disulfide bonds that form the singular knotted structure. The knot scaffold confers on these proteins remarkable chemical, thermal, and proteolytic stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtein Expr Purif
April 2018
The cystine-knot metallocarboxypeptidase inhibitors (MCPIs) are peptides that contribute to control proteolytic activity, involved in storage, growth and maintenance of plants. Lately studies reported several MCPIs with potential use in biomedical applications; as anti-cancer, anti-thrombotic, anti-malaric and anti-angiogenic agents. We report the isolation, purification, chemical stability and biochemical characterization of a novel carboxypeptidase A inhibitor (YBPCI) isolated from Capsicum annuum L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArtichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) flower extract was assayed with the aim of replacing animal rennet in the manufacture of Gouda-type cheeses from bovine milk. Floral extract coagulated milk within a suitable time for use on an industrial scale, while the yield of cheese obtained was equal to that achieved with bovine abomasum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVasconcellea quercifolia (Caricaceae) latex contains several cysteine endopeptidases with high proteolytic activity. Cysteine endopeptidases are the main active compounds used by the plant as a defense mechanism. A proteolytic preparation from V.
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