Characterization of lunasin isolated from soybean

Lunasin is a novel and promising chemopreventive peptide from soybean. We have shown previously that lunasin suppresses transformation of mammalian cells caused by chemical carcinogens and inhibits skin carcinogenesis in mice when applied topically. Although the lunasin gene was cloned from soybean, all experiments carried out so far in our lab have used synthetic lunasin and therefore there is no detailed description of natural lunasin isolated from soybean. We report here the first characterization of soybean lunasin that includes definitive identification by mass peptide mapping, partial purification, and measurement of bioactivities of the various purified fractions and protein expression in the developing seed. The identity of lunasin in the seed extracts was established by Western blot analysis and mass spectrometric peptide mapping. All lunasin fractions partially purified by anion exchange and immunoaffinity column chromatography suppress colony formation induced by the ras-oncogene and inhibit core H3-histone acetylation. During seed development, lunasin peptide appears 5 weeks after flowering and persists in the mature seed. Western blot analysis of different soybean varieties and commercially available soy proteins shows the presence of the peptide in varying amounts. These results demonstrate the feasibility of producing large quantities of natural lunasin from soybean for animal and human studies.