Lunasin, a 44 amino acid soybean bioactive peptide, exhibits anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. All soybean varieties that have been examined contain lunasin. It has also been reported in a few other plant species including amaranth, black nightshade, wheat, barley, rye, and triticale. Interestingly, detailed searches of transcriptome and DNA sequence databases of cereals failed to identify lunasin-coding sequences, raising questions about the authenticity of lunasin in cereals. To clarify the presence or absence of lunasin in cereals and other plant species, an immunological investigation was conducted utilizing polyclonal antibodies raised against the first 20 amino acid N-terminal peptide (SKWQHQQDSCRKQLQGVNLT) and a 15 amino acid C-terminal peptide (CEKHIMEKIQGRGDD) of lunasin. Protein blot analyses revealed the presence of proteins from several plants that reacted against the lunasin N-terminal peptide antibodies. However, the same proteins failed to react against the lunasin C-terminal peptide antibodies. These results demonstrate that peptides identical to soybean lunasin are absent in seeds of diverse plants examined in this study.
Keywords: cereal; legume; lunasin; soybean.