Abstract:Raw starfish peptides were prepared by biomimetic enzymatic hydrolysis to isolate and purify active peptides from starfish and explore their effects on human breast cancer cells MCF-7. Two groups of active starfish peptides were separated and purified by anion exchange chromatography and gel column chromatography. The MTT method was used to compare the inhibitory effect of these two groups of active starfish peptides on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. The crude starfish peptide was separated by anion exchange chromatography to obtain five components, A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5, which were then separated by gel column chromatography to obtain three components, B1, B2 and B3. MCF-7 cells were used as a screening model for evaluating the antitumor activity. The A2 component obtained by anion exchange chromatography inhibits the growth of MCF-7 cells by 21.65% at an A2 concentration of 600 μg/mL. The B1, B2 and B3 components obtained by separation using gel column chromatography showed significant anti-tumor acitivites. B1 at 200 μg/mL significantly inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells, with an inhibition rate of 14.65%. B2 and B3 at concentrations of 300 μg/mL could effectively inhibit the growth of MCF-7 cells, with inhibition rates of 21.23% and 24.68%, respectively. The results showed that the active peptide components isolated and purified from starfish by anion exchange chromatography and gel column chromatography exhibited significant inhibitory effects on human breast cancer cells MCF-7, which provides a basis for further research on the anti-tumor properties of starfish peptides’ active components.