Fermented soy-derived bioactive peptides selected by a molecular docking approach show antioxidant properties involving the keap1/nrf2 pathway

Bioactive peptides are a group of molecules with health beneficial properties, deriving from food matrices. They are protein fragments consisting of 2–20 amino acids that can be released by microbial fermentation, food processing and gastrointestinal digestion. Once hydrolyzed from their native proteins, they can have different functions including antioxidant activity, which is important for cell protection by oxidant agents. In this work, fermented soy products were digested in vitro in order to improve the release of bioactive peptides. These were extracted, purified and analyzed in vitro and in a cellular model to assess their antioxidant activity. Peptide sequences were identified by LC-MS/MS analysis and a molecular docking approach was used to predict their ability to interact with Keap1, one of the key proteins of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway, the major system involved in redox regulation. Peptides showing a high score of interaction were selected and tested for their antioxidant properties in a cellular environment using the Caco-2 cell line and examined for their capability to defend cells against oxidative stress. Our results indicate that several of the selected peptides were indeed able to activate the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway with the consequent overexpression of antioxidant and phase II enzymes.