a soy peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing plants found in small quantities in soybean seeds and

soybased foods a unique 43-amino acid peptide which have the following sequence: S K W Q H Q Q D S C R K Q K Q G V N LT P C -EKHIMEKIQG-RGD-DDDDDDDD with 8 aspartic acid (D) in the carboxyl end, preceded by a cell adhesion motif RGD and a predicted helical region with structural homology to chromatin binding proteins blocks cell division by binding to specific chromosomal proteins called "hypoacetylated histones."

can also be isolated from barley and wheat lunasin content: -increase during seed maturation -decrease during sprouting with soaking time. Some genotypes contain: - very high concentrations of lunasin, others contain no lunasin, and some locations yield more lunasin-rich beans than others a small subunit of the 2S albumin fraction of soy and this fraction has been shown in a study to not cause any allergic reaction in people with sensitivity to soy heat stable; surviving and retaining its activity even after 10 min of boiling a key component in soy protein responsible for its cholesterol-lowering properties. exhibits health promoting characteristics.

 Lunasin

works in two ways to lower serum LDL cholesterol levels: 1. it selectively disrupts a necessary step in the production of a key enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase. With levels of the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme lowered and available for the liver to carry out cholesterol synthesis, the liver in turn produces less cholesterol.

2. Lunasin up regulates the expression of the LDL-receptor gene. With an increase in the number of receptors available to clear LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream, LDL levels also decrease.

Lunasin & Cancer

Soybeans also contain bioactive proteins that exhibit anticancer activity including lectins and the most recently discovered peptide lunasin. By its involvement in allowing or denying access to genes for transcription, acetylation is pivotal in the process of turning genes on and off. Lunasin has a binding affinity for regions of nucleosomes that are not fully acetylated. The negatively charged amino acids of Lunasin have a natural attraction to positively charged amino acid in histones. During acetylation, the positive charge on histones is neutralized. When this occurs, genes involved in cell proliferation (e.g. oncogenes) are "turned on" or activated, resulting in tumors or cancer. Lunasin can bind to hypoacetylated histones (histones that still have the positive charge) in different regions of chromosomes, blocking or preventing their acetylation. This blocking action helps keep cancer related genes switched "off". The chromatin binding affinity of Lunasin is believed to the underlying mechanism responsible for the cancer-preventing property of Lunasin. A series of studies strongly suggests that chromatin modification is linked with tumor suppression pathways. When delivered to the proper target tissue Lunasin may play a role in preventing or "silencing" the expression of genes that lead to tumor formation, intervening primarily at the initiation and promotion-and possibly other stages of carcinogenesis.

Lunasin & Cancer

was first investigated as a factor that might prevent cancer cells from dividing and multiplying a key sequence of amino acids--arginine, glycine, and aspartic acid, (the RGD motif)--that triggered the death of leukemia cells by activating a protein called caspase-3 scientists have noted the cancer-preventive effects of the RGD sequence of amino acids so it's important to find proteins that have this sequence lunasin's ability to inhibit topoisomerase 2, an enzyme that marks the development of cancer, and they were able to quantify the number of leukemia cells that were killed after treatment with lunasin in laboratory experiments In another study, the first to report lunasin's potential anti-inflammatory activity, showed that lunasin blocked or reduced the activation of an important marker called NF-kappa-B, a link in the chain of biochemical events that cause inflammation. Thus, they concluded that daily consumption of lunasin-rich soy protein may help to reduce chronic inflammation. lunasin induces cell death in highly metastatic human colon cancer cells lunasin can penetrate the cancer cell, cause cell death, and interact with at least one type of receptor in a cell that is ready to metastasize. When that receptor is blocked, new blood vessels can't form and differentiate, and that prevents cancer from spreading. Binding such receptors has emerged as a promising target for developing cancer therapies

References
Hernndez-Ledesma, Blanca and de Lumen, Ben O. Lunasin: A Novel Cancer Preventive Seed Peptide. Perspect Medicin Chem. 2008; 2: 7580. Lunasin. Accessed 11 May 2012. Retrieved from <http://www.lunasin.com/ScientificResearch.aspx> Combination of lunasin and oxaliplatin prevents colon cancer from metastasis Published on September 20, 2011 at 6:02 AM. Accessed 12 May 2012. Retrieved from <http://www.newsmedical.net/news/20110920/Combination-of-lunasin-and-oxaliplatinprevents-colon-cancer-from-metastasis.aspx?page=2> Soy Peptide Lunasin Has Anti-Cancer, Anti-Inflammatory Properties. ScienceDaily (Dec. 2, 2009) Accessed 11 May 2012. Retrieved from <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091202153946.htm>