Amino acid sequence identification of goji berry cyclic peptides and anticervical carcinoma activity detection

The goji berry is widely used as tonics; however, the antihuman cervical carcinoma effect and underlying mechanism of goji berry peptide remain to be elucidated. The cyclic peptides are appealing targets in antitumor agent development, and in current study, three novel goji berry cyclic peptides (GCPs) were isolated and amino acid sequence identified. Among them, GCP-1 (Cycle-(Trp-Glu-His-Thr)) inhibited proliferation and induced human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells apoptosis and blocked the HeLa cells in G0/G1 phase significantly. Furthermore, the GCP-1 also inhibited the cervical carcinoma growth in vivo. Moreover, GCP-1 suppressed the cyclin expression and activated the caspase cascade and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Of note, GCP-1 may be a promising novel inhibitor of human cervical cancer.