Four novel peptide sequences (WVYY, WYT, SVYT, and IPAGV) identified from an enzymatic digest of hemp seed proteins were used for enzyme inhibition kinetics and molecular docking studies. Results showed that WVYY (IC50 = 0.027 mM) was a more potent (p < 0.05) ACE-inhibitory peptide than WYT (IC50 = 0.574 mM). However, WYT (IC50 = 0.054 mM) and SVYT (IC50 = 0.063 mM) had similar renin-inhibitory activity, which was significantly better than that of IPAGV (IC50 = 0.093 mM). Kinetics studies showed that WVYY had a lower inhibition constant (Ki) of 0.06 mM and hence greater affinity for ACE when compared to the 1.83 mM obtained for WYT. SVYT had lowest Ki value of 0.89 mM against renin, when compared to the values obtained for WYT and IPAGV. Molecular docking results showed that the higher inhibitory activities of WVYY and SVYT were due to the greater degree of noncovalent bond-based interactions with the enzyme protein, especially formation of higher numbers of hydrogen bonds with active site residues.
Keywords: angiotensin-converting enzyme; antihypertensive peptides; enzyme inhibition kinetics; hemp seed; molecular docking; renin.