Anticancer bioactive peptide (ACBP) was extracted from goat spleens with immunization by human gastric cancer extracts. ACBP was biochemically purified and identified as ≈8,000 Da peptide. Here we report that ACBP significantly inhibited the growth of human gastric cancer line BGC-823 in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. ACBP induced BGC-823 cell apoptosis was observed morphologically both by light microscopy and electronic microscopy; and ACBP-induced apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest were quantified by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometry. At the molecular level, ACBP induced p16Ink4, p21Waf1, p27Kip1, and bax tumor suppressor and apoptotic gene expression, as well as inhibited cyclin D1, c-myc, and bcl-2 gene expression that promote tumorigenesis. In vivo, ACBP dramatically inhibited human gastric tumor growth in a xenograft model with no apparent cytotoxicity to host. Our study suggests that ACBP could be a powerful anticancer biological product through induction of cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.

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