Isolation of Bioactive Peptides from Rocky Shore Crab, Grapsus Albolineatus, Protein Hydrolysate with Cytotoxic Activity against 4T1 Cell Line

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in several countries. Bioactive peptides have demonstrated their cytotoxic potential in numerous cancer cell lines. In the search for novel bioactive peptides for pharmacological properties, crab is noncommercial protein-rich species. Using enzymatic hydrolysis is an efficient way to recover potent bioactive peptides from marine sources.
The aim of this study was to isolate fractions from rocky shore crab hydrolysate with desired molecular weight by ultrafiltration and investigate their cytotoxic activities. Four fractions (>30kDa, 10-30kDa, 3-10kDa and <3kDa) were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against a 4T1 cell line by MTT assay.
The MTT assay showed that although all fractions from the crab hydrolysate showed some activity, the low molecular weight samples (3-10kDa and <3kDa) were more effective than high molecular weight fractions (>30kDa and 10-30kDa) while the 3-10kDa fraction proved to be the most effective. The low molecular weight fractions significantly reduced the viability of the 4T1 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner upon 24 and 48h. The results were recorded in IC50 values of about 0.40±0.063mg mL-1 for <3 and 0.25±0.026mg mL-1 for 3-10kDa fractions.
Peptide fractions were isolated from the protein hydrolysate of the rocky shore crab Grapsus albolineatus are able to inhibit cancer cells and can be considered as a novel agent in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical ingredient applications.