Lunasin
The 43-amino-acid soy peptide studied for cancer prevention, cholesterol and inflammation, how much of it reaches the blood, and what the human evidence actually is
Lunasin is a small peptide that soybeans make as part of a seed storage protein. Discovered in 1999, it carries a cell-binding RGD motif and a tail of aspartic acids, enters cells, settles on chromatin and stops histones from being acetylated. In cells and mice it has blocked cancer-causing transformation, slowed tumours, lowered LDL cholesterol and damped inflammation. People absorb a small share of it from soy protein. It is sold in supplements, but no controlled trial has given purified lunasin to people, and the two human trials of lunasin products found no benefit.
No established human dose Details ↓
Recommended Dosing
No established human dose
No study has given purified lunasin to people as a treatment, so there is no human dose to state. The human evidence is a study measuring lunasin in the blood of young men after they ate soy protein, and a laboratory study of human gut biopsies.
What is it?
Lunasin was found by accident. In 1999 researchers studying a soybean gene for a seed storage protein noticed that its small subunit, when made inside mammalian cells, stopped them dividing: chromosomes broke apart and the cells died. They named the peptide lunasin. It is 43 amino acids long, with an RGD motif that lets it bind integrins on cell surfaces, a string of aspartic acids at its tail, and a short helix that resembles proteins that bind chromatin.
Added to cells from outside, lunasin enters them within minutes and reaches the nucleus within hours. There it binds histones H3 and H4 where they have lost their acetyl groups and stops them being acetylated again. The working idea is that this kills cells in the middle of being transformed into cancer cells while leaving normal and fully established cancer cells alone, and early experiments fit that picture. Later studies added other routes: binding to integrins and damping NF-kB signalling in macrophages, and lowering PCSK9 so liver cells take up more LDL cholesterol.
The animal results are broad but come from a handful of laboratories. Lunasin painted on mouse skin cut chemically induced skin tumours by about 70%; injected into mice it reduced breast tumour xenografts and colon cancer spread to the liver; it lowered cholesterol and slowed plaque growth in atherosclerosis-prone mice, eased allergic airway inflammation, and reduced gut inflammation in mice prone to colitis. None of this has been tested as a treatment in people.
Lunasin is an ordinary part of soy foods. It is present in every soybean variety tested, at higher levels in soy protein isolates and hydrolysates than in flour, and in soymilks and infant formulas. Pure lunasin is digested within minutes in simulated gut fluids, but soy's own protease inhibitors protect it. In rats and mice a meaningful share of an oral dose reached tissues intact. In five young men who ate soy protein for five days, lunasin appeared in the blood, with about 4.5% of the amount eaten estimated to be absorbed.
Human evidence for an effect is thin. Lunasin applied to human gut biopsies in the laboratory shifted immune signals toward a tolerant pattern. The two clinical trials gave lunasin-containing products rather than lunasin itself: an 8-week crossover trial of a lunasin-enriched soy extract in 31 adults found no change in cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure or waist size, and a 12-month open trial of a lunasin supplement regimen in 50 people with ALS found no effect on histone acetylation or on the disease. Both are listed under References. Lunasin is sold in dietary supplements; Grey Peptides names no seller.
Mechanism of Action
Lunasin enters cells through its RGD motif and integrins, reaches the nucleus, and binds histones stripped of acetyl groups, blocking their re-acetylation; through the same integrins it also damps inflammatory signalling.
Histone acetylation
Binds deacetylated histones H3 and H4 and inhibits acetyltransferases, an epigenetic brake proposed to kill cells that are being transformed.
Integrins and NF-kB
The RGD motif binds alphaVbeta3 and alpha5beta1 integrins, lowering Akt, FAK and NF-kB signalling in macrophages and colon cancer cells.
Cholesterol
In liver cells and mice it lowered PCSK9 and raised LDL receptors, so more LDL cholesterol was cleared.
Protection in the gut
Soy's protease inhibitors shield it from digestion, which is how a small share survives to reach the blood.
Published Research
These studies were read from their PubMed abstracts on October 29, 2026. They cover lunasin's discovery and mechanism in cells, its measurement in soy foods and supplements, its absorption in animals and people, animal studies of cancer, cholesterol and inflammation, a study of human gut tissue, and four reviews. Every card is a study of lunasin itself. Two trials of lunasin-containing products, and the 1999 discovery paper, whose title does not name lunasin, are listed under References with the reason.
Prevents transformation and skin cancer in mice
Lunasin added to mouse fibroblasts blocked transformation by a chemical carcinogen, entered cells through its RGD motif, bound deacetylated histone H4 and inhibited H3 and H4 acetylation. Applied to the skin of SENCAR mice once a week, it cut skin tumour incidence by about 70%, reduced tumours per mouse and delayed their appearance by two weeks.
Stops oncogene-driven transformation, spares established cancer cells
Lunasin added to mouse fibroblasts carrying the viral oncogene E1A suppressed the formation of transformed foci and raised the tumour suppressor p21 fivefold in those cells only; it had no effect on the growth of immortalised normal cells or established cancer cell lines.
Histone acetylation, and lunasin in fed rats
Lunasin from several Korean soybean varieties inhibited core histone acetylation in proportion to its content, and synthetic lunasin did so in a dose-dependent way. Lunasin in lunasin-enriched soy resisted pepsin, and lunasin recovered from the blood and liver of rats fed it was intact and still active.
Which part of the sequence does what
Lunasin inhibited histone H4 acetylation by the enzyme PCAF at sub-micromolar concentrations and H3 acetylation at higher ones; the whole sequence was needed for the H4 effect, while the aspartic acid tail mainly accounted for the H3 effect. In breast cancer cells it reduced acetylation, cyclins and proliferation, though only at high concentrations.
Lunasin reaches the blood of men eating soy protein
Five healthy men aged 18 to 25 ate soy protein daily for five days; on day five, plasma lunasin averaged about 66 to 71 ng/mL at 30 and 60 minutes, and mass spectrometry confirmed lunasin sequences absent before soy intake. About 4.5% of the lunasin eaten was estimated to have been absorbed.
Immune effects in human gut tissue
In intestinal biopsies from healthy people, cultured with lunasin in the laboratory, the peptide stayed stable, raised both inflammatory and tolerance-promoting signals (including IL-10 and TGF-beta), and blunted the inflammatory response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide. It also pushed gut dendritic cells and macrophages toward a regulatory profile. This is tissue, not lunasin given to people.
Soy protease inhibitors make lunasin bioavailable
Lunasin and the Bowman-Birk inhibitor were the two active anti-transformation components of a soy concentrate, with lunasin the stronger. Soy protease inhibitors protected lunasin from digestion, about 30% of an oral labelled dose reached rat and mouse tissues intact, and injected lunasin cut breast tumour incidence in mice by up to 49%.
Digested in minutes unless protected
In simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, purified soybean lunasin and synthetic lunasin were broken down within two minutes, while lunasin in soy protein that also contained the Bowman-Birk inhibitor was comparatively stable; some lunasin still entered cell nuclei after digestion.
Lunasin in barley, and in fed rats
Lunasin was found in every barley cultivar tested. Rats fed lunasin-enriched barley had lunasin in their liver and kidney that still inhibited histone acetyltransferases, and barley lunasin raised tumour suppressors and cut cyclin D1 in mouse cells exposed to a carcinogen.
How much lunasin is in soybeans and soy products
An immunoassay across 144 soybean accessions found lunasin in all of them, with more than twofold differences between varieties grown side by side. Soy protein isolates and hydrolysates held the most, soy flour less, and isoflavone-enriched products little or none.
Lunasin in soymilks and infant formulas
Every commercial soymilk, soy shake and soy infant formula tested contained lunasin, from about 1.6 to 22 mg per serving depending on product and serving size; formulas made from soy protein isolate held less. The study also improved a purification method to at least 90% purity.
Lunasin content of supplements varies
Eight lunasin-based dietary supplements contained about 9 to 26 mg of lunasin per gram of protein; a pilot-plant enriched soy extract held up to six times more. Antioxidant capacity rose and histone acetyltransferase activity fell with lunasin content, and lunasin inhibited melanoma cells only at high micromolar concentrations.
Lowers LDL cholesterol through PCSK9
In liver cells lunasin lowered PCSK9 and raised LDL receptors, increasing LDL uptake. ApoE-deficient mice injected with lunasin daily for four weeks had less liver PCSK9, more LDL receptor, and lower blood total and LDL cholesterol than controls.
Protects blood vessel lining, slows plaque in mice
Lunasin protected human endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced death by switching on heme oxygenase-1 through the Nrf2 pathway, and slowed atherosclerotic plaque progression in ApoE-deficient mice on a high-fat diet.
Slows colon cancer spread and adds to oxaliplatin
Lunasin bound the alpha5beta1 integrin on human colon cancer cells and reduced FAK activation and migration. In a mouse model of liver metastasis it halved the number of nodules, and with oxaliplatin cut them from 28 to 5.
Eases allergic airway inflammation in mice
In two mouse asthma models, lunasin given into the nose cut airway eosinophils, inflammatory infiltrates, mucus-cell changes and IL-4, and given with the allergen it increased allergen-specific regulatory T cells in the lung.
Less gut inflammation in colitis-prone mice
In IL-10-deficient mice, which are prone to inflammatory bowel disease, lunasin by mouth reduced visible signs of inflammation and lowered TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and IL-18 in the gut; in human macrophages it damped inflammasome activation (caspase-1, IL-1beta and IL-18) in a dose-dependent way.
Calms human macrophages through an integrin
In stimulated human THP-1 macrophages, lunasin bound the alphaVbeta3 integrin, reduced activation of Akt and NF-kB, and cut COX-2, nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2 and TNF-alpha output.
Early review of a cancer-preventive soy peptide
The review summarises lunasin's action against carcinogens and oncogenes in cells and mouse skin, its presence in all US soy germplasm tested and in commercial soy proteins, its oral bioavailability in rodents, and the proposed mechanism: binding exposed deacetylated histones in cells undergoing transformation.
Review: a seed peptide for cancer prevention
This review covers the discovery of lunasin in soy and its later detection in wheat, barley and other seeds, its cancer-preventive effects in cells and the mouse skin model, and its oral bioavailability as the basis for testing it as a dietary chemopreventive agent.
Review: chemopreventive and therapeutic roles
The review gathers evidence on lunasin's presence in soybeans and soy foods, its bioavailability after eating, and its effects against cancer, oxidative stress, inflammation and high cholesterol, along with the mechanisms proposed for each.
Recent pharmacology review
A 2026 review describes lunasin's structure and the range of effects reported in laboratory and animal studies across cancer, atherosclerosis and cholesterol, fatty liver injury and brain disorders, and argues it merits development; the abstract cites no new human trial.
No Established Human Dose
No study has given purified lunasin to people as a treatment, so there is no human dose to state. The human evidence is a study measuring lunasin in the blood of young men after they ate soy protein, and a laboratory study of human gut biopsies. The two clinical trials gave a lunasin-enriched soy extract and a combined supplement regimen, found no benefit, and are listed under References because neither tested lunasin alone.
What this rests on: PMID 19199603, PMID 33890400.
Educational information, not medical advice. The doses on this page come from approved labels, published studies and, where no study exists, amounts reported by users. None is a recommendation for you. An unapproved compound has no established safe or effective human dose, and products sold for “research use only” are not made or tested for people. Talk to a doctor before acting on anything on this site, including before you start, stop or change any medicine or dose. Full medical disclaimer.
What a Buyer Needs to Know
What is sold, how it is mixed, stored and taken, and what is known about its safety, quality and legal status. Each part names its source. Where we have none, it says unknown.
What is sold
Unknown: we hold no label and no published test that says what forms or vial sizes Lunasin is sold in. A vial's own label is a seller's claim, not a source.
Mixing a vial: a worked example
Unknown: no human dose of Lunasin has been established (see No Established Human Dose below), so there is no amount to work out. The reconstitution calculator does the arithmetic for any vial, water and dose.
Storage before and after mixing
Unknown: no label or published stability study on file says how to store Lunasin, before or after mixing. The mixing guide sets out the general rules, with their sources: keep a mixed vial in the fridge, and use it promptly, as the bacteriostatic water label says of any drug dissolved in it. The 28 days often quoted is the limit for an opened multiple-dose vial from a manufacturer, an outer limit set for sterility, not a time a mixed solution has been shown to keep. Nobody has published how long Lunasin stays intact once mixed.
How it is taken
Unknown: with no established human dose, there is no established way of taking Lunasin. What the human studies gave and how is set out under No Established Human Dose.
What to expect, and when
Unknown: no cited half-life and no label or trial duration on this page says how long Lunasin lasts or how long it was given. Results reported in the studies are under Published Research.
Side effects, and when to stop or get help
From the Side Effects section: Lunasin is a normal part of soy foods, including soymilks and soy infant formulas (PMID 22510061); In cells it did not affect the growth of normal or established cancer cell lines, only of cells being transformed (PMID 14769542); The amount of lunasin in supplements varied about threefold between the eight products tested (PMID 34065911). Full list and cautions ↓
When to stop or get help: unknown; no label or trial on file sets rules for stopping Lunasin. Treat a severe or unexpected reaction as a reason to stop and see a doctor.
Source: the Side Effects section below (“No safety data come from trials of lunasin itself”).
Interactions
Unknown: a PubMed search for human interaction studies of Lunasin (reviewed 2026-10-28) found none. Unknown is not the same as safe to combine.
Every peptide's record, with its source: the interaction matrix.
Checking what you bought
Unknown: no published independent test of Lunasin products is in our lab-results database yet, so how products sold under this name measure up is not known.
To read a certificate of analysis, paste it into the COA decoder. Trust & Verification explains what independent testing can and cannot show.
Legal status
US: Research Chemical (Not a medicine: Drugs@FDA and the EMA medicines list hold no record for lunasin (searched October 28, 2026)). Sport: Not on the 2026 List.
Country by country ↓ · Regulatory tracker
Source: this entry's approval status and the WADA Prohibited List, as in Legal Status below.
Side Effects & Contraindications
Reported Side Effects
No safety data come from trials of lunasin itself. What is known:
Contraindications & Cautions
Practical points; no formal contraindications exist because lunasin is not a medicine.
Legal Status
Lunasin is a food component and supplement ingredient, not an approved medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions
?What is lunasin?
A 43-amino-acid peptide made by soybeans as part of a seed storage protein, also reported in barley and wheat. It carries an RGD motif and a tail of aspartic acids and binds chromatin inside cells.
?Does lunasin prevent cancer?
In cells and mice it blocked carcinogen- and oncogene-driven transformation, cut skin tumours and slowed tumour growth and spread. It has not been tested for cancer prevention in people.
?Does lunasin lower cholesterol?
In liver cells and atherosclerosis-prone mice it lowered PCSK9 and LDL cholesterol. An 8-week trial of a lunasin-enriched soy extract in 31 adults found no significant change in blood lipids.
?Is lunasin absorbed when eaten?
Partly. Pure lunasin is digested quickly, but soy's protease inhibitors protect it. In young men eating soy protein about 4.5% of the lunasin was estimated to reach the blood, and rodents absorbed more.
?Did lunasin help in ALS?
No. A 12-month open trial of a lunasin supplement regimen in 50 people with ALS found no effect on histone acetylation or on disease progression.
?Which foods contain lunasin?
Soybeans and soy protein products, with the most in soy protein isolates and hydrolysates. Soymilks and soy infant formulas tested all contained it.
References
- [pubmed] Galvez AF, et al. "A soybean cDNA encoding a chromatin-binding peptide inhibits mitosis of mammalian cells." Nat Biotechnol, 1999;17(5):495-500. PMID: 10331812.
- [pubmed] Galvez AF, et al. "Chemopreventive property of a soybean peptide (lunasin) that binds to deacetylated histones and inhibits acetylation." Cancer Res, 2001;61(20):7473-8. PMID: 11606382.
- [pubmed] Lam Y, et al. "Lunasin suppresses E1A-mediated transformation of mammalian cells but does not inhibit growth of immortalized and established cancer cell lines." Nutr Cancer, 2003;47(1):88-94. PMID: 14769542.
- [pubmed] Jeong HJ, et al. "Inhibition of core histone acetylation by the cancer preventive peptide lunasin." J Agric Food Chem, 2007;55(3):632-7. PMID: 17263453.
- [pubmed] Hernández-Ledesma B, et al. "Relationship between lunasin's sequence and its inhibitory activity of histones H3 and H4 acetylation." Mol Nutr Food Res, 2011;55(7):989-98. PMID: 21618425.
- [clinical-trial] Dia VP, et al. "Presence of lunasin in plasma of men after soy protein consumption." J Agric Food Chem, 2009;57(4):1260-6. PMID: 19199603.
- [clinical-trial] Fernández-Tomé S, et al. "Lunasin Peptide is a Modulator of the Immune Response in the Human Gastrointestinal Tract." Mol Nutr Food Res, 2021;65(12):e2001034. PMID: 33890400.
- [pubmed] Hsieh CC, et al. "Complementary roles in cancer prevention: protease inhibitor makes the cancer preventive peptide lunasin bioavailable." PLoS One, 2010;5(1):e8890. PMID: 20126654.
- [pubmed] Park JH, et al. "In vitro digestibility of the cancer-preventive soy peptides lunasin and BBI." J Agric Food Chem, 2007;55(26):10703-6. PMID: 18038984.
- [pubmed] Jeong HJ, et al. "Lunasin is prevalent in barley and is bioavailable and bioactive in in vivo and in vitro studies." Nutr Cancer, 2010;62(8):1113-9. PMID: 21058199.
- [pubmed] Gonzalez de Mejia E, et al. "Lunasin concentration in different soybean genotypes, commercial soy protein, and isoflavone products." J Agric Food Chem, 2004;52(19):5882-7. PMID: 15366837.
- [pubmed] Cavazos A, et al. "Analysis of lunasin in commercial and pilot plant produced soybean products and an improved method of lunasin purification." J Food Sci, 2012;77(5):C539-45. PMID: 22510061.
- [pubmed] Gonzalez de Mejia E, et al. "Potential Health Benefits Associated with Lunasin Concentration in Dietary Supplements and Lunasin-Enriched Soy Extract." Nutrients, 2021;13(5). PMID: 34065911.
- [pubmed] Gu L, et al. "Lunasin functionally enhances LDL uptake via inhibiting PCSK9 and enhancing LDLR expression in vitro and in vivo." Oncotarget, 2017;8(46):80826-80840. PMID: 29113347.
- [pubmed] Gu L, et al. "Lunasin attenuates oxidant-induced endothelial injury and inhibits atherosclerotic plaque progression in ApoE(-/-) mice by up-regulating heme oxygenase-1 via PI3K/Akt/Nrf2/ARE pathway." FASEB J, 2019;33(4):4836-4850. PMID: 30601695.
- [pubmed] Dia VP, et al. "Lunasin potentiates the effect of oxaliplatin preventing outgrowth of colon cancer metastasis, binds to α5β1 integrin and suppresses FAK/ERK/NF-κB signaling." Cancer Lett, 2011;313(2):167-80. PMID: 21963225.
- [pubmed] Yang X, et al. "Lunasin alleviates allergic airway inflammation while increases antigen-specific Tregs." PLoS One, 2015;10(2):e0115330. PMID: 25646897.
- [pubmed] Nieto-Veloza A, et al. "Lunasin reduces the susceptibility of IL-10 deficient mice to inflammatory bowel disease and modulates the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome." J Nutr Biochem, 2023;119:109383. PMID: 37209953.
- [pubmed] Cam A, et al. "RGD-peptide lunasin inhibits Akt-mediated NF-κB activation in human macrophages through interaction with the αVβ3 integrin." Mol Nutr Food Res, 2012;56(10):1569-81. PMID: 22945510.
- [review] de Lumen BO. "Lunasin: a cancer-preventive soy peptide." Nutr Rev, 2005;63(1):16-21. PMID: 15730231.
- [review] Hernández-Ledesma B, et al. "Lunasin, a novel seed peptide for cancer prevention." Peptides, 2009;30(2):426-30. PMID: 19056440.
- [review] Hsieh CC, et al. "Updating the research on the chemopreventive and therapeutic role of the peptide lunasin." J Sci Food Agric, 2018;98(6):2070-2079. PMID: 28990666.
- [review] Zhang H, et al. "Lunasin: Exploring the pharmacological potential of a soy-derived peptide." Eur J Med Chem, 2026;302(Pt 2):118317. PMID: 41197471.
- [pubmed] Haddad Tabrizi S, et al. "The Effect of Soybean Lunasin on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Randomized Clinical Trial." J Diet Suppl, 2020;17(3):286-299. PMID: 30955400.
- [pubmed] Bedlack RS, et al. "Lunasin does not slow ALS progression: results of an open-label, single-center, hybrid-virtual 12-month trial." Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener, 2019;20(3-4):285-293. PMID: 30663902.
Sources & Citations
Every study on this page was read from its PubMed record on October 29, 2026, and the ALS trial's registry entry (NCT02709330) was read on ClinicalTrials.gov the same day. Status comes from Drugs@FDA and the EMA medicines list, read October 28, 2026. A search of PubMed for lunasin[tiab] returned 163 records and ClinicalTrials.gov one registered study (the ALS trial); Drugs@FDA and the EMA list returned none (October 28, 2026). Grey Peptides sells nothing, names no supplement brand and links to no vendor.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is an instruction to obtain or use any compound. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own situation.