Discovery and characterization of Lycium barbarum peptides

• Main Author: Heng, Fiona Ya Wen
• Other Authors: James P. Tam
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61725
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Cysteine rich peptides are an important area in pharmaceutical research as they possess potential therapeutic uses due to their high conformational stability. Hence, a small scale extraction of herbs was conducted in attempt to identify herbs which are abundant in CRPs. Each herb produced a unique spectrum which is useful for classification and identification. Another aim of this study is to isolate, purify and characterize peptides found in Lycium barbarum, a commonly used traditional Chinese herb. In this study, we have successfully isolated and purify 3 peptides unique to Lycium barbarum, with masses (Da) of 3838, 3992 and 4153 from our sample using HPLC. Lycium barbarum was tested on HUVEC cell line in a cell proliferation assay, in which it was discovered to be anti-proliferative at higher concentrations. It may be a potential biologic for cancer treatment that prevents tumour progression due to its anti-angiogenic effect. A peptide that we had isolated from Lycium barbarum was found to be 70% homologous to potato Carboxypeptidase inhibitor which provided insights for functional studies. From the Carboxypeptidase inhibition assay, we discovered that the peptide also has Carboxypeptidase inhibition activity. Hence, it may have great potential for future development into an oral bioactive biologic.