Novel antioxidant peptides from soybean protein by employing computational and experimental methods and their mechanisms of oxidative stress resistance

Abstract

Antioxidant peptides have the potential to play a crucial role in mitigating and managing a variety range of diseases associated with oxidative stress. Soybean protein is an important source of antioxidant peptides. Here we employ computational and experimental methods to screen and identify five antioxidant peptides (Gly-Ala, Gly-Val-Pro-Tyr, Pro-His, Pro-Lys, and Ser-Gly-Pro) derived from soybean protein, and explore their potential targets and mechanisms of action. All five peptides demonstrated potent antioxidant activity, effectively scavenging superoxide radicals and protecting cells from H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage. These peptides exhibited multi-target effects on pathways implicated in oxidative stress, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Notably, our results reveal that these peptides can stably interact with the key target nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) through Glu377, a critical residue of NOS2, thereby inhibiting its activity and potentially mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation. This study confirms the function of soybean peptide sequence that has not been previously disclosed, and provides a more specific theoretical basis for the development of natural antioxidant peptides.