Plant-derived peptides rubiscolin-6, soymorphin-6 and their c-terminal amide derivatives: Pharmacokinetic properties and biological activity

[Display omitted] •Rubiscolin-6 and Soymorphin-6 are two natural bioactive peptides from spinach and cereals.•Four peptides were obtained in excellent overall yields and purity following Fmoc-SPPS strategy.•Rubiscolin-6 C-amide exhibits significative antinociceptive effect in in vivo tests.•Rubiscolin-6 shows the best in vitro intestinal bioavailability in CaCo2 cell monolayer. The aim of this work is to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties, antinociceptive and antioxidant activities of rubiscolin-6, soymorphin-6 and their C-terminal amides; The four peptides were synthesized following Fmoc-SPPS strategy to give the final peptides in excellent overall yields and purity following analytical RP-HPLC analysis. None of them shows antioxidant activity and α-tyrosinase inhibition in vitro. All compounds are able to activate G-protein coupled receptor at the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) at 100 μM concentration however, rubiscolin-6-amide exhibits significative antinociceptive effect after i.c.v. administration in the tail flick test (TF) and s.c. administration in the formalin test (FT). Rubiscolin-6 shows the best in vitro intestinal bioavailability in CaCo2 cell monolayer and stability to the brush border exopeptidases in the apical compartment. In silico experiments show the interaction of rubiscolin-6 and rubiscolin-6 amide at the binding cavity of DOR compared with the crystallographic ligand TIPP-NH2.