Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a vital risk factor for chronic kidney diseases (CKD) and development of functional foods capable of protecting CKD is of importance. This paper aimed to explore the amelioration effects and mechanism of Andrias davidianus bone peptides (ADBP) on HUA-induced kidney damage. In the present study, we generated the standard ADBP which contained high hydrophobic amino acid and low molecular peptide contents. In vitro results found that ADBP protected uric acid (UA)-induced HK-2 cells from damage by modulating urate transporters and antioxidant defense. In vivo results indicated that ADBP effectively ameliorated renal injury in HUA-induced CKD mice, evidenced by a remarkable decrease in serum UA, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen, improving kidney UA excretion, antioxidant defense and histological kidney deterioration. Metabolomic analysis highlighted fourteen metabolites that could be selected as potential biomarkers and attributed to the amelioration effects of ADBP on CKD mice kidney dysfunction. Intriguingly, ADBP restored the gut microbiome homeostasis in CKD mice, especially with respect to the elevated helpful microbial abundance, and the decreased harmful bacterial abundance. This study demonstrated that ADBP displayed great nephroprotective effects, and has great promise as a food or functional food ingredient for the prevention and treatment of HUA-induced CKD.

With changing dietary habits and increasing awareness of the nutraceutical role of dietary foods, the demand for natural plant proteins and interest in non-traditional protein sources in the food industry are increasing. Industrial hemp, belonging to the plant family Cannabaceae, is cultivated for its fibre and edible seeds. Due to its nutritional value, it has also been used in the food industry and medicine. In particular, hemp seed proteins have drawn considerable attention in both scientific and industrial fields because of their excellent nutraceutical values, superior digestibility, low allergenicity and diverse techno-functional properties. In this review, we provide a summary of the current research progress on the extraction and purification processes, physiochemical properties, nutraceutical functions, and applications of hemp seed proteins. Perspectives in the application of advanced technologies for hemp seed bioactive peptide mining are also discussed. This review provides up-to-date insights into the nutraceutical values, health benefits, and future applications of this emerging plant source protein.

With the rapid development of chemical engineering and biotechnology, polypeptide, as a promising candidate in the biomedical field, has been thoroughly investigated and extensively used as the drug delivery vehicle for diseases treatment, especially cancer, owing to the high biocompatibility, good biodegradability, versatile constructions, and diverse functions. Engineered polypeptide-based drug delivery system (so-called EPP-DDS) can deliver the cargos to the target site via a specific recognition effect, followed by overcoming the barriers like blood brain barrier (BBB) and releasing them by responding to the microenvironment cues, to improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the side-effect. Herein, it's of great importance to conclude and summarize the updates on EPP-DDS developed by chemical engineering methods. In this review, we first summarized the recent updates in the manufacturing of polypeptide and preparation of EPP-DDS based on green biochemical engineering and/or synthetic processes for cancer therapy, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), gene therapy, and combination therapy. Then, we surveyed the research progress of inflammation-mediated cancer treatment strategies based on EPP-DDS with high anti-inflammation activity. Finally, we concluded the discovery and green production process of engineered polypeptide, challenges, and perspectives of EPP-DDS. Overall, the EPP-DDS has great potential for cancer therapy in the clinic with improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced adverse effect, which needs the innovation of green biochemical engineering for customized design and production of polypeptides.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic systematic inflammation disorder with increasing incidence, unknown pathogenesis, limited drug treatment, and abundant medical expenses. Dietary intake, as a daily indispensable environment factor, is closely related to UC pathogenesis and prevention. The underlying interactions between dietary intake and UC progression are implicated with the modulation of gut microbiome as well as microbial metabolites, suggesting the complex and systematic characteristics of UC. However, the triangular relationships with dietary intake, gut microbiota homeostasis, and UC have not been well summarized so far. Here we review the recent studies of dietary intake on the regulation of gut microbiome homeostasis as well as modulation of UC progression. These findings suggest that varieties in dietary patterns result in the production of diverse microbial fermentation metabolites, which contribute to gut microbiome homeostasis through multiple manipulations including immune modulation, inflammation restriction as well as epithelial barrier maintenance, thus finally determine the fate of UC progression and give implications for functional food development for prevention and treatment of UC patients.

Andrias davidianus, i. e. Chinese giant salamander (CGS), is one of the largest and oldest amphibians existing in the world and is also one of the valuable biological resources of China. Wild CGS has been threatened with extinction in the past decades due to over capturing, deterioration of natural environment, the slow breeding and growth of the wild species in nature. However, in the past twenty years, with the breakthrough and progress of artificial breeding technology by artificial insemination, the number of artificially cultivated CGS has increased rapidly. Artificially cultivated CGS can either be released to the CGS living environment to increase the population in nature or legally applied in food and medicinal industry as a feedstock due to the unique nutritional and medicinal values of CGS as recorded historically. In this review, the nutritional components, bioactive components and medicinal activities of the artificially cultivated CGS will be summarized. The mucus, skin, meat and bone of CGS contain many different bioactive substances thereby having various medicinal activities including anti-aging, anti-fatigue, anti-tumor, therapy of burn and anti-infection and other physiological functions. This paper will further discuss the potential applications of the artificially cultivated CGS in healthcare industry and prospects of future technological development.