Screening and Identification of a Novel Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Binding Peptide by Using a Phage Display Library

The purpose of this study was to screen peptides that can specifically bind to human hepatocellular carcinoma （hHCC） cells using phage display of random peptide library in order to develope a peptide-based carrier for the diagnosis or therapy of hHCC. A peptide 12-mer phage display library was employed and 4 rounds of subtractive panning were performed using the hHCC cell line HepG2 as the target. After panning, the phages that specifically bound to and internalized in hHCC cells were selected. The selected phages demonstrated highly specific affinity to HepG2 cells analyzed by ELISA and immunofluorescence analysis. 57.3% of the selected phage clones displayed repeated sequence FLLEPHLMDTSM, and 4 amino acid residues, FLEP were extremely conservative. Based on the sequencing results, a 16-mer peptide （WH-16） was synthesized. The competitive EL1SA showed that the binding of the phage clones displayed sequence FLLEPHLMDTSM to HepG2 cells was efficiently inhibited by WH-16. Our findings indicate that cellular binding of phage is mediated via its displayed peptide and the synthesized 16-mer peptide may have the potential to be a delivery carrier in target diagnosis or therapy for hHCC.

PSMA mimotope isolated from phage displayed peptidelibrary can induce PSMA specific immune response

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a cellsurface glycoprotein expressed predominantly in prostatesecretory acinar epithelium and prostate cancer cells aswell as in several extraprostatic tissues. Mouse monoclonal antibody 4G5 specific to the extracellular domainof PSMA was used to screen two phage displayed peptide libraries (9aa linear and 9aa cys library). Three 4G5reactive phagotopes were identified. Sequence analysis ofisolated clones demonstrated that the interaction motif'VDPA/SK' has high homology to 719-725aa on PSMA.Immunohistochemical staming of the prostate cancer sam ple with the PSMA-mimic phagotope (mimotope) immunized serum antibodies demonstrate that the mimotopeisolated from the phage displayed peptide libraries can induce PSMA specific immune response in vivo.

Identification and Characterization of Peptides Binding AgEG1 from a Phage Display Library

Endoglucanases are the main cellulolytic enzymes digestion as well as its good kinetic properties make it an attractive of Anoplophora glabripennis. Their high activities in cellulose target for development of cellulase inhibitors. In this study, random pepfide phage display technology was employed to identify peptides that bound the AgEG1, a member of endoglucanase isozymes. Phage clones with peptide LPPNPTK and XPP （X is residue T, L, A or H） motif frequently occurred in the selected phage population and showed a higher phage recovery than other clones. Peptide LPPNPTK was chemically synthesized and characterized tor its binding activities to AgEG1. The synthetic peptide exhibited high specificity for AgEG1. The peptide LPPNPTK has the potential to be developed into inhibitors of the endoglucanase of A. glabripennis.

SELECTION OF NEW EPITOPES FROM MONOVALENT DISPLAYED PHAGE OCTAPEPTIDE LIBRARY

A library of 2 ×107 random octapeptides was constructed by use of phagemid-based monovalent phage display system. The randomly synthesized degenerated oligodeoxyribonucleotides (oligos ) were fused to the truncated g Ⅲ (p230-p403). Sequence analysis of 11 randomly chosen clones suggested that the degenerated inserts and its deduced amino acid (aa) sequences are randomly distributed. The library was used to select binding peptides to the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 9E10, which recognizes a continuous decapeptide epi- tope of denatured human c-myc protein. After four to five rounds of panning, most of the eluted clones could bind to 9E10. Sequence analysis of the selected positive clones indicated that the binding sequences could fall into two classes, one class (clone 1) shares a consensus motif, ISE x x L, with c-myc decapeptide; and the sequences of the other class are entirely different. The binding of both classes to 9E10 could be specifically inhibited by free c-myc decapeptide. The immunogenicity of the phage peptide was further investigated by construction of multivalent displayed phage peptides and immunization of animals with or without adjuvant. ELISA and competitive ELISA showed that anti-serum from both mice and rabbit immunized with either clone could bind to the original antigen, c-myc decapeptide. These results denote that in spite of the dissimilarity of the selected peptides with c-myc decapeptide, they are capable of inducing similar immune respones in vivo, thus actually mimicking the antigen epitope.

Screening and Identification of a Targeting Peptide to nGLP-1R from Phage Display Peptide Library

In order to provide the structure information for designing new exendin-4 analogues, a phage display peptide library was screened by targeting the N-terminal extracellular domain of GLP-1R（nGLP-1R）. After four rounds of selection, nine sequences were obtained, four of them have higher affinity for nGLP-1R than the others. We chose two of them named X and Y peptides. Islet β-cell proliferation assay suggested that X and Y peptides didn＇t have any activity to increase islet β-cell proliferation. In other words, X and Y peptides were not agonists to GLP-1R. However, the conservative motifs of X and Y peptides provided us useful information to design new exendin-4 analogues.

Selection of the specific coalescent peptide of human CD59 by phage display techniques

To screen and identify the short peptides with specific binding activity to human CD59 and to design the short-peptide clamp against tumor escape, the phage display peptide library containing 12 peptides was used to select the highly expressed specific coalescent peptide of human CD59 in CHO cells. Positive phage clones obtained after 5 rounds of biopanning and detected with ELISA were obtained, in which 8 of them with high binding activity to human CD59 were sequenced. The 3 sequences thus obtained showed high homology with each and certain homology with sequence with human CD2 （PubMed 339HGAAENSLSPSS）, and all contained primary structure , of which this sequence may be the mimic confonnational epitope binding to human CD59. These results in the present study may be helpful to design the short-peptide clamp against the active sites of CD59 on tumor escape.

An overview on application of phage display technique in immunological studies

Phage display is very strong technique in drug discovery and development. Phage display has many applications in improving the immunological studies. Development of monoclonal antibody, peptides, peptidomimetics and epitope mapping are main application of phage display. Selection of monoclonal antibody or peptides that are displayed on the surface of the phages can be occurred through biopanning process. In biopanning process phage library is incubated with antigen and particular phages can be identified and isolated. Increasing the stringency in the biopanning rounds can be help to select phages with high affinity and specificity. Here, we describe an overview of phage display application with focusing on monoclonal antibody production and epitope mapping.

Phage display: development of nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery to the brain

The blood brain barrier represents a formidable obstacle for the transport of most systemati- cally administered neurodiagnostics and neurotherapeutics to the brain. Phage display is a high throughput screening strategy that can be used for the construction of nanomaterial peptide libraries. These libraries can be screened for finding brain targeting peptide ligands. Surface functionalization of a variety of nanocarriers with these brain homing peptides is a sophisticated way to develop nanobiotechnology-based drug delivery platforms that are able to cross the blood brain barrier. These efficient drug delivery systems raise our hopes for the diagnosis and treatment of various brain disorders in the future.

Selection of the Mimic Epitopes of Antigens from Schistosoma japonicum by Using Phage Display Techniques

To obtain short peptides simulating antigenic epitopes related to natural resistance against Schistosoma japonicum (S.j) in rats, and to explore their immune protection against S.j in mice, phage random peptide library of 12 amino acids were screened with purified IgG from normal rat sera. Positive clones that were obtained after three rounds of biopanning were detected by ELISA, and two of them were sequenced. Kunming mice were immunized with mixed phage clones. Each mouse was challenged with 40±1 S.j cercariae, and all mice were perfused 45 days post-challenge. The worms and the liver eggs were counted. The results were that the specific phages binding to IgG were enriched 300 folds after three rounds of biopanning. Twenty clones were detected by ELISA and 19 of them bound to the specific IgG of rat sera. The sequence of two clones revealed no homology with other sequences in the GenBank. Compared with the control groups, the reduction rates of the worm burden and liver egg were 33.6% and 59.8%, respectively. It was concluded that the specific peptides, which simulate antigenic molecules correlated with natural resistance to S.j in rats could be obtained by immunosceening phage random peptide library and a protective immunity against S.j can be detected by these epitopes in mice.

Application of phage display technology in targeted therapy of breast cancer

Phage display is a technology of gene expression and screening, it is widely used in the fields of defining antigen epitopes, signal transduction, genetic treatment, parasites research and tumor targeted therapy. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, we can obtain peptides specially associated with breast cancer by using phage display technology, and this method has great potential in early diagnosis of breast cancer and development new targeted drugs.

Construction of a Multipurpose M13KE Phage Display System

In this study, a multipurpose M13KE phage display vector was constructed from wild-type M13KE phage for long peptide or protein display libraries without helper phage to expand the scope of targeted high-throughput screening. Based on the relationship between the structure and function of minor coat protein of wild-type MI3KE （wt-plII）, a truncated gene III （tglll） encoding minor coat protein from M13KE phage was cloned. A fusion gene fragment harboring a hw/tac promoter, signal peptide and C-terminal region sequence of gill was assembled with SOEing-PCR （splice-overlapping-extension polymerase chain reaction） method and inserted into M13KE vector. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis with anti-M13 pIII moneclonal antibody were employed to detect the expression of re- combinant protein, c-Myc and HA tag sequences were fused into the recombinant protein. The results showed that tglll was inserted into an unessential region of M13KE. According to the results of SDS-PAGE and Western blot with anti-M13 pIII antibody, pIII was expressed by wt-gIII and tgIII, glII harboring two tags ex- pressed both c-Myc and HA peptides using SDS-PAGE and Western blot with the corresponding monoclonal antibodies. In this study, a multipurpose M13KE phage display system was successfully constructed, which could express both short and long peptide libraries without helper phage. In future, the obtained M13KE phage display system may be used for targeted high-throughput screening of long peptide libraries without helper phage.

A novel peptide, selected from phage display library of random peptides, can efficiently target into human breast cancer cell

To develop a targeting vector for breast cancer biotherapy, MDA-MB-231 cell, a human breast cancer cell line, was co-cultured with pC89 (9 aa) phage display library of random peptides. In multiple inde- pendent peptide-presenting phage screening trials, subtilisin was used as a protease to inactivate ex- tra-cellular phages. The internalized phages were collected by cell lysising and amplified in E. coli XLI-Blue. Through five rounds of selection, the peptide-presenting phages which could be internalized in MDA-MB-231 cells were isolated. A comparison was made between internalization capacities of pep- tide-presenting phages isolated from MDA-MB-231 cells and RGD-integrin binding phage by cocultur- ing them with other human tumor cell lines and normal cells. The nucleotide sequences of isolated peptide-presenting phages were then determined by DNA sequencing. To uncover whether phage coat protein or amino acid order was required for the character of the peptide to MDA-MB-231 cells, three peptides were synthesized. They are CASPSGALRSC, ASPSGALRS and CGVIFDHSVPC (the shifted sequence of CASPSGALRSC), and after coculturing them with different cell lines, their targeting ca- pacities to MDA-MB-231 cells were detected. These data suggested that the internalization process was highly selective, and capable of capturing a specific peptide from parent peptide variants. Moreover, the targeting internalization event of peptides was an amino acid sequence dependent manner. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using phage display library of random peptides to develop new targeting system for intracellular delivery of macromolecules, and the peptide we obtained might be modified as a targeting vector for breast cancer gene therapy.

Selection of trkB-binding peptides from a phage-displayed random peptide library

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) shows potential in the treatment of neurode-generative diseases, but the therapeutic application of BDNF has been greatly limited because it is too large in molecular size to permeate blood-brain barrier. To develop low-molecular-weight BDNF-like peptides, we selected a phage-displayed random peptide library using trkB expressed on NIH 3T3 cells as target in the study. With the strategy of peptide library incubation with NIH 3T3 cells and competitive elution with 1 mg/mL of BDNF in the last round of selection, the specific phages able to bind to the natural conformation of trkB and antagonize BDNF binding to trkB were enriched effectively. Five trkB-binding peptides were obtained, in which a core sequence of CRA/TXfXXfXXC (X represents the random amino acids, f represents T, L or I) was identified. The BDNF-like activity of these five peptides displayed on phages was not observed, though all of them antagonized the activity of BDNF in a dose-dependent manner. Similar results were obtained with the synthetic peptide of C1 clone, indicating that the 5 phage-derived peptides were trkB antagonists. These low-molecular-weight antagonists of trkB may be of potential application in the treatment of neuroblastoma and chronic pain. Meanwhile, the obtained core sequence also could be used as the base to construct the secondary phage-displayed peptide library for further devel-opment of small peptides mimicking BDNF activity.

Screening of Peptide Inhibitors of TACE from a Phage Display Random 15-Peptide Library by Recombinant TACE Ectodomain

Tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α-converting enzyme(TACE)is the major protease responsible for processing pro-TNF-αfrom membrane-anchored precursors to secreted TNF-α.In the present study,a 15-peptide library was used to identify potential TACE antagonists.To obtain the recombinant TACE ectodomain and to use it as a selective molecule for the screening of peptide inhibitors of TACE,cDNA coding for the catalytic domain(T800)and full-length ectodomain(T1300)of TACE were amplified by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.The expression plasmid were constructed by inserting T800/T1300 into plasmid pET-28a/c respectively and were transformed into Escherichia coli BL21(DE3).Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDSPAGE)andWestern blot analysis revealed that T800/T1300 were highly expressed in the form of an inclusion body induced by isopropylthiogalactoside.After Ni2+–NTA resin affinity chromatography,the purity of the recombinant T800/T1300 protein was more than 90%.T800 and T1300 proteins were used in the screening of T800/T1300-binding peptides from a phage display random 15-peptide library.After four rounds of biopanning,the positive phage clones were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,competitive inhibition assay(ELESA),and DNA sequencing.A common amino acid sequence(TRWLVYFS RPYLVAT)was confirmed and synthesized.A synthetic peptide was shown to bind to TACE and to inhibit TNF-αrelease from lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC)by up to 60.3%.Fluorescence-activated cell sorter(FACS)analysis revealed that the peptide mediated the accumulation of TNF-αon an LPS-stimulated PBMC surface.These results demonstrate that the TACE-binding peptide is an effective antagonist of TACE and that the deduced motif might be applied to the molecular design of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Transforming growth factor-β1 phage model peptides isolated from a phage display 7-mer peptide library can inhibit the activity of keloid fibroblasts

Background Transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β1） is known to have a role in keloid formation through the activation of fibroblasts and the acceleration of collagen deposition. The objective of this current study was to isolate TGF-β1 phage model peptides from a phage display 7-mer peptide library to evaluate their therapeutic effect on inhibiting the activity of keloid fibroblasts.Methods A phage display 7-mer peptide library was screened using monoclonal anti-human TGF-β1 as the target to obtain specific phages containing ectogenous model peptides similar to TGF-β1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was performed to select monoclonal phages with good binding activity, which underwent DNA sequencing. MTT assay and apoptosis assessment were used to evaluate the biological effects of the phage model peptides on keloid fibroblasts. Immunofluorescence assay was employed to show the binding affinity of the model peptides on phages causing keloid fibroblasts. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis was carried out to detect the expressions of nuclear factor κB （NF-κB） mRNA, connective tissue growth factor （CTGF） mRNA and TGF-β receptor Ⅱ （TβRII） mRNA in keloid fibroblasts.Results Specific phages with good results of ELISA were beneficiated. Four phage model peptides were obtained. The data of MTT showed that TGF-β1 and one phage model peptide （No. 4） could promote keloid fibroblasts proliferation,however, three phage model peptides （No. 1-3） could inhibit keloid fibroblasts proliferation. The results of apoptosis assessment showed that the three phage model peptides could slightly induce the apoptosis in keloid fibroblasts. The data of immunofluorescence assay revealed that the model peptides on phages rather than phages could bind to keloid fibroblasts. The findings of quantitative real-time PCR analysis suggested that the expressions of NF-κB mRNA and CTGF mRNA in the three phage model peptide groups decreased, while the expression of TβRII mRNA slightly increased.Conclusions Three phage model peptides isolated from a phage display 7-mer peptide library can inhibit keloid fibroblasts proliferation and induce the apoptosis in keloid fibroblasts. They can inhibit the activity of keloid fibroblasts by blocking TGF-β1 binding to its receptor and then regulating the expressions of NF-κB, CTGF and TβRII.

A resistin binding peptide selected by phage display inhibits 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation

Background Resistin, a newly discovered cysteine-rich hormone secreted mainly by adipose tissues, has been proposed to form a biochemical link between obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the resistin receptor has not yet been identified. This study aimed to identify resistin binding proteins/receptor. Methods Three cDNA fragments with the same 11 bp 5＇ sequence were found by screening a cDNA phage display library of rat multiple tissues. As the reading frames of the same 11 bp 5＇ sequence were interrupted by a TGA stop codon, plaque lift assay was consequently used to prove the readthrough phenomenon. The stop codon in the same 11 bp 5＇ sequence was replaced by tryptophan, and the binding activity of the coded peptide [AWIL, which was designated as resistin binding peptide （RBP）] with resistin was identified by the confocal microscopy technique and the affinity chromatography experiment, pDual GC-resistin and pDual GC-resistin binding peptide were co-transfected into 3T3-L1 cells to confirm the function of resistin binding peptide. Results Three cDNA fragments with the same 11 bp 5＇ sequence were found. The TGA stop codon in reading frames of the same 11 bp 5＇ sequence was proved to be readthroughed. The binding activity of RBP with resistin was consequently identified. The expression of the resistin binding peptide in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes expressing pDual G-C-resistin significantly inhibited the adipogenic differentiation. Conclusion RBP could effectively rescue the promoted differentiation of resistin overxepressed 3T3-L1 preadipocyte.

日本血吸虫模拟虫卵抗原表位的筛选和鉴定

目的 通过噬菌体肽文库技术探索可用于诊断日本血吸虫病的模拟虫卵抗原。 方法 用日本血吸虫虫卵单克隆抗体 6 B12作“诱饵”,采用生物淘金法从噬菌体 15 -肽文库中经过 3轮筛选 ,有效地富集与 6 B12有亲和力的噬菌体肽克隆。随后采用 EL ISA、竞争 EL ISA、Western blotting等检测方法 ,从 4 0 0个单克隆化的噬菌体株中得到 13株与 6 B12有特异性、高亲和力反应的噬菌体克隆。 结果 对噬菌体所携带的外源 DNA片段序列测序结果表明 ,13株噬菌体所携带的外源多肽序列完全相同。该噬菌体多肽抗原包被酶标板经 EL ISA方法对血吸虫病患者及健康人血清Ig G抗体检测结果表明 ,两者有显著性差异。

从HCV核心蛋白噬菌体随机展示肽库中筛选抗原表位

目的探讨病毒抗原序列研究的新方法。方法应用噬菌体展示技术，筛选ＨＣＶ核心蛋白的抗原序列。用抗－ＨＣＶ核心抗体单独阳性的血清，对巳构建的ＨＣＶ核心蛋白噬菌体随机展示肽库进行４轮筛选，检测筛选阳性的克隆数、插入阳性率和杂交阳性率来评价筛选的效果。测定和分析７个杂交阳性克隆的ＤＮＡ序列。结果所测定的７个序列中，６个为ＨＣＶ核心蛋白序列，其中５个被正确地展示于噬菌体表面，１个可能被正确展示，这些序列均含有重要的ＨＣＶ核心抗原表位。另１个为大肠杆菌ｎｒｆａ基因。结论噬菌体展示技术完全可应用于病毒蛋白抗原序列的筛选，并具有简便、快速、准确的优点。

HCV核心蛋白噬菌体随机展示肽库的构建

目的 :为了探讨噬菌体展示技术在筛选和鉴定病毒抗原表位研究中的应用前景。 方法 :利用随机引物 PCR法以HCV核心基因为模板合成随机 DNA片段 ,再经特定引物二次扩增后获得高丰度的 HCV核心蛋白随机 DNA片段 ,将该片段插入噬菌粒载体 p CANTAB5 X的 Xba 位点 ,转化大肠杆菌 TG1,辅助噬菌体拯救 ,建立噬菌体随机肽展示文库。结果 :所构建的随机文库含 1.2 3× 10 5个不同克隆 ,库容噬菌体滴度为 2× 10 1 2 TU/ m l(转导单位 / ml) ,PCR法检测插入阳性为 2 8.1% ,核酸杂交证实 40 %的克隆为 HCV核心基因阳性克隆。 结论 :所建的随机文库有足够大的库容和较好的多样性 ,可以满足HCV C抗原表位的筛选。

脂多糖保守表位模拟肽的筛选与鉴定

用针对脂多糖保守表位的单抗 2B4对噬菌体随机 12肽库进行亲和筛选 ,通过噬菌体ELISA实验及脂多糖(LPS)竞争抑制实验鉴定阳性克隆 .经三轮筛选后 ,与抗体结合的噬菌体得到明显富集 ,噬菌体ELISA结果显示 ,阳性率达 80 % .将其中 12个阳性噬菌体克隆做鼠伤寒杆菌和大肠杆菌LPS竞争抑制实验 ,抑制作用非常明显 ,有良好的剂量依赖关系 ,证明这 12个克隆与LPS具相似表位 .DNA测序并推导噬菌体展示肽的氨基酸序列为 ,GPPQWFFSQPQL (5 / 12 ,41 7% ) ,LPQYFWNTATTA (3/ 12 ,2 5 % ) ,FPQNHWNVPWAT (2 / 12 ,16 6 % ) ,HSQSFWNAPLAM和AHPWTHGYFPPL (1/ 12 ,8 3 % ) .实验结果表明 ,用 2B4抗体筛选到的噬菌体短肽克隆可模拟保守表位 ,即脂多糖的模拟肽 (位 ) .