Therapeutic Potential of Tuna Backbone Peptide and Its Analogs: An In Vitro and In Silico Study

Tuna backbone peptide (TBP) has been reported to exert potent inhibitory activity against lipid peroxidation in vitro. Since this bears relevant physiological implications, this study was undertaken to assess the impact of peptide modifications on its bioactivity and other therapeutic potential using in vitro and in silico approach. Some TBP analogs, despite lower purity than the parent peptide, exerted promising antioxidant activities in vitro demonstrated by ABTS radical scavenging assay and cellular antioxidant activity assay. In silico digestion of the peptides resulted in the generation of antioxidant, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPPIV) inhibitory dipeptides. Using bioinformatics platforms, we found five stable TBP analogs that hold therapeutic potential with their predicted multifunctionality, stability, non-toxicity, and low bitterness intensity. This work shows how screening and prospecting for bioactive peptides can be improved with the use of in vitro and in silico approaches.