Peptides from hypothetical proteins of Lactobacillus acidophilus induce IL-4 and IL-10

Abstract

Commensal bacteria used for probiotics usually pose no health risk. However, the functional mechanisms of these probiotics are not fully understood, thereby necessitating new studies such as this. The study aimed to understand the functional mechanisms of microbial probiotics and characterize their uncharacterized hypothetical proteins. In this study, the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus genome was explored for antibiotic resistance genes, characterization of hypothetical proteins, and their relationships with cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) and cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). The genome has an average G+C content of 34.71 and 1,991,579 bp. It has 1,909, 61, and 12 protein-coding sequences, transfer RNA, and ribosomal RNA genes, respectively. Peptides from QHP2 and QHP5 induce IL-4 and IL-10. They are antigenic, nontoxic, and nonallergenic. This study provides insights into better understanding the functional mechanisms of microbial probiotics and lays a solid background for future studies that may focus on sustainable therapeutic feed additives, food supplements, and vaccine development from the hypothetical proteins of Lactobacillus acidophilus.