Lunasin is a peptide found in soy and some cereal grains, which has been the subject of research since 1996 focusing on cancer, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease and inflammation.
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Discovery
Lunasin is a peptide that can be found in soy, barley, wheat, and rye. It is found both in grains originating in the American continents as well as the old world continents. This polypeptide was originally isolated, purified, and sequenced from soybean seed in 1987. Although uncertain about the peptide’s biological activity, the Japanese team of researchers described it as a 43-amino acid peptide, noting specifically the unusual poly (L-aspartic acid) sequence at the carboxyl terminus. Subsequent research by Alfredo Galvez in the laboratory of Ben de Lumen at the University of California-Berkeley identified the peptide as a subunit of the cotyledon-specific 2S albumin. The name of the protein was chosen from the Filipino word lunas, which means "cure". Lunasin was patented as a biologic molecule in 1999 by de Lumen and Galvez.
Medical research
The biological activity of lunasin was discovered by Galvez while working in the laboratory of de Lumen at UC Berkeley.
There has been much research interest in the biomedical aspects of lunasin but the high cost of synthesizing lunasin made experimentation difficult. This limitation has been overcome by the development of methods to isolate highly purified lunasin from soybean white flake, a byproduct of soybean processing. In laboratory and animal experiments lunasin has shown anti-carcinogenic activity which suggests it may have chemopreventive potential.
ALS treatment
A recent finding is that lunasin may reduce the progressive muscular weakening of ALS. Rick Bedlack, director of Duke University's ALS Clinic in Durham, NC, found a patient, Michael McDuff, who surprisingly was getting better. The cause seemed to be a regimen of lunasin that McDuff started on his own. Currently Bedlack has started a trial with other ALS patients to see if it works for a large clinically-controlled group of patients. A clinical trial is ongoing.
Impact on Epigenetic Changes
Lunasin was the first dietary compound with an identified epigenetic mechanism of action. This mechanism (histone acetylation) was identified by Dr. Alfredo Galvez in 1996 and patented in 1999.