The Maillard reaction is a network of different non-enzymatic reactions between carbonyl groups of reducing sugars and amino groups from amino acids, peptides, or proteins, which progresses in three major stages and originates a very heterogeneous mixture of reaction products. It is also known as non-enzymatic browning, due to the brown macromolecular pigments formed in the final stage of the reaction. The chemistry underlying the Maillard reaction is complex. It encloses not only one reaction pathway, but a whole network of various transformations. As virtually all foods contain both proteins and carbohydrates, Maillard reaction products are present in the daily diet in considerable amounts. The endogenous formation of Maillard reaction products, especially related to ageing and diabetes, aroused intense discussions about the health consequences of the “glycation”, the term that describes the in vivo reaction corresponding to the Maillard reaction in foods. Melanoidins are the final brown products of the Maillard reaction. They are responsible for the color formed during the heat processing of foods like coffee, bread, malt, and beef. Melanoidins are high molecular weight polydisperse polymers containing nitrogen. Their structure is largely unknown. Coffee melanoidins, which are object of the present study, contain thermally transformed polysaccharides, proteins, and phenolic compounds. Since the mechanisms involved on the formation of these macromolecules, and the chemical transformations which take place during the heat treatment are not completely elucidated, key structural features were analyzed. Especially the incorporation of chlorogenic acids in the melanoidin skeleton was object of attention of the present work. Another major aim of this work was to investigate the influence of the Maillard reaction on the inhibitory potential of food components against zinc metalloproteases. The studied enzymes were three human matrix metalloproteases (MMP-1, -2 and -9), which are able to degrade matrix proteins and participate in many physiological processes, including tissue turnover and repair, but also constitute important targets in malignant and degenerative diseases. A microbial collagenase from Chlostridium histolyticum was chosen due to its subtract similarity to MMPs. Furthermore, Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), which plays a central role in cardiovascular pathologies such as hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, was investigated. As a prototypical Maillard reaction product, coffee melanoidin was adopted. Due to the roast dependent inhibitory activity of the coffee melanoidin fractions against matrix metalloproteases, the functionalization caused by the non-enzymatic browning was closer investigated. Na-carboxyalkylated derivatives of a sequence of relevant peptides were synthesized, in a variation of the process-induced formation of Nε-carboxymethyllysine, a major advanced glycation end-product (AGE). The inhibitory activity against zinc metalloproteases of the sequence of selected peptides and their Na-carboxymethyl- (CM-) and Na-carboxyethyl- (CE-) derivates was investigated.

The Maillard reaction is a network of different non-enzymatic reactions between carbonyl groups of reducing sugars and amino groups from amino acids, peptides, or proteins, which progresses in three major stages and originates a very heterogeneous mixture of reaction products. It is also known as non-enzymatic browning, due to the brown macromolecular pigments formed in the final stage of the reaction. The chemistry underlying the Maillard reaction is complex. It encloses not only one reaction pathway, but a whole network of various transformations. As virtually all foods contain both proteins and carbohydrates, Maillard reaction products are present in the daily diet in considerable amounts. The endogenous formation of Maillard reaction products, especially related to ageing and diabetes, aroused intense discussions about the health consequences of the “glycation”, the term that describes the in vivo reaction corresponding to the Maillard reaction in foods. Melanoidins are the final brown products of the Maillard reaction. They are responsible for the color formed during the heat processing of foods like coffee, bread, malt, and beef. Melanoidins are high molecular weight polydisperse polymers containing nitrogen. Their structure is largely unknown. Coffee melanoidins, which are object of the present study, contain thermally transformed polysaccharides, proteins, and phenolic compounds. Since the mechanisms involved on the formation of these macromolecules, and the chemical transformations which take place during the heat treatment are not completely elucidated, key structural features were analyzed. Especially the incorporation of chlorogenic acids in the melanoidin skeleton was object of attention of the present work. Another major aim of this work was to investigate the influence of the Maillard reaction on the inhibitory potential of food components against zinc metalloproteases. The studied enzymes were three human matrix metalloproteases (MMP-1, -2 and -9), which are able to degrade matrix proteins and participate in many physiological processes, including tissue turnover and repair, but also constitute important targets in malignant and degenerative diseases. A microbial collagenase from Chlostridium histolyticum was chosen due to its subtract similarity to MMPs. Furthermore, Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), which plays a central role in cardiovascular pathologies such as hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, was investigated. As a prototypical Maillard reaction product, coffee melanoidin was adopted. Due to the roast dependent inhibitory activity of the coffee melanoidin fractions against matrix metalloproteases, the functionalization caused by the non-enzymatic browning was closer investigated. Na-carboxyalkylated derivatives of a sequence of relevant peptides were synthesized, in a variation of the process-induced formation of Nε-carboxymethyllysine, a major advanced glycation end-product (AGE). The inhibitory activity against zinc metalloproteases of the sequence of selected peptides and their Na-carboxymethyl- (CM-) and Na-carboxyethyl- (CE-) derivates was investigated.:LIST OF CONTENTS I LIST OF TABLES IV LIST OF FIGURES V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VII 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 BACKGROUND 3 2.1 Maillard reaction in food 3 2.1.1 Melanoidins 8 2.2 Coffee 11 2.2.1 General aspects 11 2.2.1.1 Coffee production 12 2.2.1.2 General chemical composition 14 2.2.1.3 Coffee and health 20 2.2.2 Coffee melanoidins 24 2.2.2.1 Chemistry of coffee melanoidins 24 2.2.2.2 Properties of coffee melanoidins 29 2.3 Zinc metallopeptidases 32 2.3.1 Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 33 2.3.1.1 Functions of MMPs 35 2.3.1.2 Structure of MMPs 37 2.3.1.3 Inhibition of MMPs 39 2.3.2 Clostridium histolyticum collagenase (ChC) 43 2.3.2.1 Functions of ChC 43 2.3.2.2 Structure of ChC 43 2.3.2.3 Inhibition of ChC 44 2.3.3 Agiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) 45 2.3.3.1 Functions of ACE 45 2.3.3.2 Structure of ACE 46 2.3.3.3 Inhibition of ACE 48 3 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 50 3.1 Chemicals, materials and equipment 50 3.1.1 Chemicals 50 3.1.2 Material 52 3.1.3 Equipment 52 3.1.4 Solutions 54 3.2 Synthesis of Nα-carboxyalkylated peptides 55 3.2.1 Nα-carboxyalkylation of GP, LL, IA, GA, GL, AP, IP and IPP by reductive alkylation 55 3.2.2 Nα-carboxyalkylation of IW using sodium cyanoborohydride 56 3.3 Purification 57 3.3.1 Ion Exchange Chromatographic purification 57 3.3.1.1 Spotting test 58 3.3.2 HPLC purification of CM-IW 58 3.3.3 Overview of the synthesis and elution conditions 59 3.4 Characterization of carboxyalkylated peptides 61 3.4.1 Mass spectrometry 61 3.4.2 Elemental Analysis 61 3.4.3 Analytical characteristics of carboxyalkylated peptides 62 3.5 Preparation of coffee fractions 65 3.5.1 Roasting conditions 65 3.5.2 Fractionation of coffee samples: Isolation of coffee melanoidins 67 3.6 Structural studies 69 3.6.1 Estimation of the molecular weight 69 3.6.2 C/N ratio 70 3.6.3 Amino acid analysis 70 3.6.3.1 Acid hydrolysis 70 3.6.3.2 General amino acid analysis 70 3.6.3.3 Lysinoalanine 71 3.6.3.4 Pentosidine 72 3.6.4 Total phenols 74 3.6.5 Raman spectroscopy 74 3.7 Study on inhibition of zinc metalloproteases 75 3.7.1 Inhibition of ACE 75 3.7.1.1 General enzymatic assay 75 3.7.1.2 Quantification 78 3.7.2 Inhibition of MMP-1, -2 and -9 79 3.7.2.1 General enzymatic assay 80 3.7.2.2 Effect of zinc addition on the inhibition of MMP-1 by melanoidins 81 3.7.3 Inhibition of ChC 82 3.7.3.1 General enzymatic assay 82 3.7.3.2 Quantification 84 3.7.4 Calculation of IC50 84 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 86 4.1 Coffee melanoidins 86 4.1.1 Isolation of coffee fractions 86 4.2 Inhibition of zinc-dependent peptidases by coffee fractions 89 4.2.1 Inhibition of MMPs 89 4.2.2 Inhibition of other zinc metalloproteases 98 4.2.3 General considerations 99 4.3 Structural studies on coffee melanoidins 101 4.3.1 Gel permeation chromatography 102 4.3.2 Elemental analysis: C/N ratio 113 4.3.3 Amino acid analysis 116 4.3.4 Total phenolics 120 4.3.5 Correlation between total phenols content and C/N ratio in coffee melanoidins 123 4.3.6 Raman spectroscopy 124 4.4 Derivatization of peptides 129 4.4.1 Nα-carboxyalkylation of peptides by reductive alkylation 130 4.5 Preliminary investigations on the inhibitory potential of Nα-carboxyalkyl derivatives of peptides against metalloproteases 133 4.5.1 Inhibition against ACE 134 4.5.2 Inhibition against other zinc metalloproteases 138 5 SUMMARY 141 6 REFERENCES 145 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS 168 AKNOWLEDGMENTS 169 ERKLÄRUNG 170