Bovine milk possesses a protein system constituted by two major families of proteins: caseins (insoluble) and whey proteins (soluble). Caseins (αS1, αS2, β, and κ) are the predominant phosphoproteins in the milk of ruminants, accounting for about 80% of total protein, while the whey proteins, representing approximately 20% of milk protein fraction, include β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins, bovine serum albumin, bovine lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase, together with other minor components. Different bioactivities have been associated with these proteins. In many cases, caseins and whey proteins act as precursors of bioactive peptides that are released, in the body, by enzymatic proteolysis during gastrointestinal digestion or during food processing. The biologically active peptides are of particular interest in food science and nutrition because they have been shown to play physiological roles, including opioid-like features, as well as immunomodulant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antioxidant activities. In recent years, research has focused its attention on the ability of these molecules to provide a prevention against the development of cancer. This paper presents an overview of antitumor activity of caseins and whey proteins and derived peptides. 1. Introduction Milk proteins can exert a wide range of physiological activities, including enhancement of immune function, defense against pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and yeasts, and development of the gut and its functions [1]. Besides the biologically active proteins naturally occurring in milk, a variety of bioactive peptides are encrypted within the sequence of milk proteins that are released upon suitable hydrolysis of the precursor protein. A large range of bioactivities has been reported for milk protein components, with some showing more than one kind of biological activity [2]. Particularly, the present paper reviews the most important antitumor peptides derived from milk proteins (Table 1). Table 1: Anticancer peptide and proteins from bovine milk [ 5]. Peptides derived from casein digestion have demonstrated antimutagenic properties [3]. Animal models for colon and mammary tumorigenesis have generally shown that whey protein is superior to other dietary proteins for suppression of tumour development [4]. This benefit is attributed to its high content of cystine/cysteine and γ-glutamylcyst(e)ine dipeptides, which are efficient substrates for the synthesis of glutathione, an ubiquitous cellular antioxidant that destroys reactive oxygen species and detoxifies
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