Lipopolysaccharide neutralizing protein in Miso, Japanese fermented soybean paste

Miso, a fermented paste made from soybeans, is used traditionally for seasoning of food. It has been a protein and nitrogen source since ancient times in Japan because of its high nutritional value. Furthermore, it has important health functions such as the estrogen‐like activity of isoflavones, anti‐oxidation, and angiotensin‐converting‐enzyme inhibition activity. Moreover, it has activity for neutralization of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of that activity remain unclear. For this study, we purified and identified the proteins responsible for LPS‐neutralization. After proteins were isolated from a miso extract using Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, a protein found at 10 to 30 kDa on the polyacrylamide gel was identified using nano LC‐MS/MS as 2S albumin in soybean (Glycine max). The protein had two LPS binding motifs: SKWQHQ (22 amino acid residues) and EKQKKKMEKE (131 amino acid residues). The protein in miso was found to have LPS neutralization activity, as assayed by prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) production from macrophage cells. The PGD2 production by macrophage cells was inhibited by LPS‐neutralizing protein (LNP) from miso. Particularly, 50 mg/mL of LNP solution and LPS (10 µg/mL) inhibited production of PGD2 from the cells. The data were inferred as significantly different (P < 0.05) from statistical analyses by analysis of variance testing and Tukey tests. The 2S albumin in soybean is LNP, an LPS‐neutralizing protein, produced in miso. Practical Application A protein from miso fermented soy paste neutralizes an Escherichia coli intestinal bacterial product, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which causes intestinal inflammation. Miso and its protein are anticipated for use as a probiotic agent to prevent intestinal inflammation in humans and domestic animals. Miso is useful not only as a seasoning for food, but also as a health‐functional food because it is an LPS‐neutralizing agent.