Bioactive Peptides from Algae: Traditional and Novel Generation Strategies, Structure-Function Relationships, and Bioinformatics as Predictive Tools for Bioactivity
Open accessAbstract
Over the last decade, algae have been explored as alternative and sustainable protein sources for a balanced diet and more recently, as a potential source of algal-derived bioactive peptides with potential health benefits. This review will focus on the emerging processes for the generation and isolation of bioactive peptides or cryptides from algae, including: (1) pre-treatments of algae for the extraction of protein by physical and biochemical methods; and (2) methods for the generation of bioactive including enzymatic hydrolysis and other emerging methods. To date, the main biological properties of the peptides identified from algae, including anti-hypertensive, antioxidant and anti-proliferative/cytotoxic effects (for this review, anti-proliferative/cytotoxic will be referred to by the term anti-cancer), assayed in vitro and/or in vivo, will also be summarized emphasizing the structure–function relationship and mechanism of action of these peptides. Moreover, the use of in silico methods, such as quantitative structural activity relationships (QSAR) and molecular docking for the identification of specific peptides of bioactive interest from hydrolysates will be described in detail together with the main challenges and opportunities to exploit algae as a source of bioactive peptides.
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Despite ongoing challenges, the field of algal bioactive peptides is advancing rapidly, driven by innovations in bioinformatics, omics technologies, and machine learning.
“Despite ongoing challenges, the field of algal bioactive peptides is advancing rapidly, driven by innovations in bioinformatics, omics technologies, and machine learning.”
From Navigating the potential of algal peptides: health effects, market applications, and scientific challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [257]
Section 3 says research on bioactive peptides is gaining momentum, while Section 5 describes continuing production and research challenges. Section 4 describes bioinformatics methods, including QSAR and artificial neural networks, but the copy does not identify omics technologies as a driver of progress or establish that all three named innovations are driving rapid advances. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese tools enable precise prediction and modeling of peptide bioactivity based on amino acid sequences, facilitating rational design of peptides tailored to specific therapeutic targets and enhancing efficiency and functionality within development pipelines.
“These tools enable precise prediction and modeling of peptide bioactivity based on amino acid sequences, facilitating the rational design of peptides tailored to specific therapeutic targets and enhancing both efficiency and functionality within development pipelines [257].”
From Navigating the potential of algal peptides: health effects, market applications, and scientific challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [257]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAdvancements in bioinformatics and silico methods, such as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and molecular docking, facilitate identification and design of specific peptides tailored to individual nutritional needs.
“Advancements in bioinformatics and silico methods, such as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and molecular docking, facilitate the identification and design of specific peptides tailored to individual nutritional needs [257,259].”
From Navigating the potential of algal peptides: health effects, market applications, and scientific challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [257]
Section 4.1 says QSAR can help identify bioactive peptides, and Section 4.2 describes molecular docking as a way to examine peptide–target interactions before synthesis and testing. These passages support identifying and selecting peptides for particular biological activities, but they do not address tailoring peptides to individual nutritional needs. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 97 · Cited by 81
- Authors
- O’Connor, J., Garcia-Vaquero, M., Meaney, S., & Tiwari, B. K.
- Affiliations
- Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (IE)
- Section of Food and Nutrition, School Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Technological University Dublin (IE)
- Venue
- Marine Drugs
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-05-10
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 317
- ISSN
- 1660-3397 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9145204
- OpenAlex
- W4280608500
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 97
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Marine Drugs (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Arrow - TU Dublin (Technological University Dublin) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Research Repository UCD (University College Dublin) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Teagasc (0018, 16/RC/3889, 696295)
- Ireland’s European Structural and Investment Programmes, Science Foundation Ireland (0018, 16/RC/3889, 696295)
- Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) (0018, 16/RC/3889, 696295)
- ERA-NET Cofund ERA HDHL (0018, 16/RC/3889, 696295)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Hydrolysis and Bioactive Peptides
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
- Keywords
- bioactive peptides, algae, enzymatic hydrolysis, protein extraction, antihypertensive peptides, antioxidant peptides, anticancer peptides, structure-function relationship, QSAR, molecular docking, sustainable protein sources
- MeSH terms
- Hydrolysis, Peptides, Structure-Activity Relationship, Computational Biology, Molecular Docking Simulation
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