The objectives of the present study were to examine the antioxidant activity of fractions with different isoelectric points from salmon enzymatic hydrolysates and obtain peptide fractions of sufficient amounts with higher antioxidant peptide fraction, which could be applied to the food and animal model systems. The salmon enzymatic hydrolysates were fractionated on the basis of the amphoteric nature of sample peptides by preparative isoelectric focusing without toxic solvents and reagents, which is termed autofocusing. Acidic and basic fractions showed higher 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity than the other fractions. The basic fractions showed higher hydroxyl (OH) radical scavenging activity. The weak acidic and weak basic fractions showed higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values than the acidic and basic fractions. The acidic fraction showed higher metal chelating activity than other fractions. The acidic fraction suppressed lipid oxidation in the cooked patties to a greater extent than other fractions. These results suggest that peptides fractions from salmon enzymatic hydrolysate are effective antioxidant, and that autofocusing could be useful to increase antioxidant activity for application to food and animal model systems.

The interaction of mastoparan B, a cationic tetradecapeptide amide isolated from the hornet Vespa basalis, with phospholipid bilayers was studied with synthetic mastoparan B and its analogue with Ala instead of hydrophobic 12th amino acid residue in mastoparan B. MP-B and its derivative, [12-Ala]MP-B were synthesized by the solid-phase peptide synthesis method. MP-B and its analogue, [12-Ala]MP-B adopted an unordered structure in buffer solution. In the presence of neutral and acidic liposomes, the peptides took an α-helical structure. The two peptides interacted with neutral and acidic lipid bilayers. These results indicated that the hydrophobic face in the amphipathic α-helix of MP-B critically affected the biological activity and helical content.

Toxic peptides from hornet venom, mastoparan and mastoparan-B were synthesized using the solid phase peptide synthesis method and investigated the interaction of them with phospholipid bilayer, antibacterial activity, and hemolytic activity. Both toxic peptides could induce dye release at a low concentration in neutral liposome. The binding affinity of mastoparan-B for neutral liposome was smaller than that for acidic one. Mastoparan and mastoparan-B had strong antibacterial activity for gram-positive bacteria, but weak or potent activity for gram-negative ones, respectively. Mastoparan and mastoparan-B lysed erythrocyte very little up to 5 μM.