Soybean peptide fractions inhibit human blood, breast and prostate cancer cell proliferation

Abstract

In this study, we examined in vitro the bio-activity of peptide fractions obtained from soybeans against blood (CCRF-CEM and Kasumi-3), breast (MCF-7), and prostate (PC-3) cancer cell proliferation. Gastro-intestinal treated peptide fractions (<5, 5–10 and 10–50 kDa) prepared from seed proteins of two high oleic acid soybean lines—N98-4445A, S03-543CR and one high protein line—R95-1705, were tested for anticancer activity against human breast, blood and prostate cancer cell lines. Anti-proliferative cell titer assay was conducted to assess the inhibitory effects of the peptide fractions, while trypan blue dye exclusion assay was used to determine the dose response of most effective fractions. Results showed that the peptide fractions inhibited the cancer cell lines up to 68.0% and the minimum concentration to get 50% inhibitory activity (IC50) ranged between 608 and 678 µg/mL. This multiple site in vitro cancer inhibition by GI friendly peptides could have the potential use as food ingredients or nutritional supplements in an alternative cancer therapy.