Valery A. Petrenko

Sequential detection of Salmonella typhimurium and Bacillus anthracis spores using magnetoelastic biosensors.

Multiple phage-based magnetoelastic (ME) biosensors were simultaneously monitored for the detection of different biological pathogens that were sequentially introduced to the measurement system. The biosensors were formed by immobilizing phage and 1mg/ml BSA (blocking agent) onto the magnetoelastic resonators surface. The detection system included a reference sensor as a control, an E2 phage-coated sensor specific to S. typhimurium, and a JRB7 phage-coated sensor specific to B. anthracis spores. The sensors were free standing during the test, being held in place by a magnetic field. Upon sequential exposure to single pathogenic solutions, only the biosensor coated with the corresponding specific phage responded. As the cells/spores were captured by the specific phage-coated sensor, the mass of the sensor increased, resulting in a decrease in the sensors resonance frequency. Additionally, non-specific binding was effectively eliminated by BSA blocking and was verified by the reference sensor, which showed no frequency shift. Scanning electron microscopy was used to visually verify the interaction of each biosensor with its target analyte. The results demonstrate that multiple magnetoelastic sensors may be simultaneously monitored to detect specifically targeted pathogenic species with good selectivity. This research is the first stage of an ongoing effort to simultaneously detect the presence of multiple pathogens in a complex analyte.

Evolution of phage display: from bioactive peptides to bioselective nanomaterials

Background: New phage-derived biorecognition nanomaterials have emerged recently as a result of the in-depth study of the genetics and structure of filamentous phage and the evolution of phage display technology. Objective: This review focuses on the progress made in the development of these new nanomaterials and discusses the prospects of using phage as a bioselectable molecular recognition interface in medical and technical devices. Methods: The author used data obtained both in his research group and sourced using Science Citation Index (Web of Science) search resources. Results/conclusion: The merging of phage display technologies with nanotechnology over the past few years has proved promising and has already shown its vitality and productivity by contributing vigorously to different areas of medicine and technology, such as medical diagnostics and monitoring, molecular imaging, targeted drug and gene delivery, vaccine development, as well as bone and tissue repair.

Delivery of siRNA into breast cancer cells via phage fusion protein-targeted liposomes

UNLABELLED Efficacy of siRNAs as potential anticancer therapeutics can be increased by their targeted delivery into cancer cells via tumor-specific ligands. Phage display offers a unique approach to identify highly specific and selective ligands that can deliver nanocarriers to the site of disease. In this study, we proved a novel approach for intracellular delivery of siRNAs into breast cancer cells through their encapsulation into liposomes targeted to the tumor cells with preselected intact phage proteins. The targeted siRNA liposomes were obtained by a fusion of two parental liposomes containing spontaneously inserted siRNA and fusion phage proteins. The presence of pVIII coat protein fused to a MCF-7 cell-targeting peptide DMPGTVLP in the liposomes was confirmed by Western blotting. The novel phage-targeted siRNA-nanopharmaceuticals demonstrate significant down-regulation of PRDM14 gene expression and PRDM14 protein synthesis in the target MCF-7 cells. This approach offers the potential for development of new anticancer siRNA-based targeted nanomedicines. FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR In this study, the authors report a novel approach for targeted intracellular delivery of siRNAs into breast cancer cells through encapsulation into liposomes targeted to the tumor cells with preselected intact phage proteins.

Phagemid vectors for phage display: properties, characteristics and construction.

Phagemids are filamentous-phage-derived vectors containing the replication origin of a plasmid. Phagemids usually encode no or only one kind of coat proteins. Other structural and functional proteins necessary to accomplish the life cycle of phagemid are provided by the helper phage. In addition, other elements such as molecular tags and selective markers are introduced into the phagemids to facilitate the subsequent operations, such as gene manipulation and protein purification. This review summarizes the elements of the phagemids and their corresponding functions. Finally, the possible trends and future direction to improve the characteristics of the phagemids are highlighted.

Identifying Diagnostic Peptides for Lyme Disease through Epitope Discovery

ABSTRACT Serum antibodies from patients with Lyme disease (LD) were used to affinity select peptide epitopes from 12 large random peptide libraries in phage display format. The selected peptides were surveyed for reactivity with a panel of positive sera (from LD patients) and negative sera (from subjects without LD), thus identifying 17 peptides with a diagnostically useful binding pattern: reactivity with at least three positive sera and no reactivity with any of the negative sera. The peptides define eight sequence motifs, none of which can be matched convincingly with segments of proteins from Borrelia burgdorferi, the LD pathogen; evidently, then, they are “mimotopes,” mimicking natural pathogen epitopes without matching contiguous amino acids of pathogen proteins. Peptides like these could be the basis of a new diagnostic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for LD, with sufficient specificity and sensitivity to replace expensive immunoblotting tests that are currently required for definitive serological diagnosis. Moreover, the method used to discover these peptides did not require any knowledge of the pathogen and involved generic procedures that are applicable to almost any infectious disease, including emerging diseases for which no pathogen has yet been identified.

Design of specific immunogens using filamentous phage as the carrier

Earlier, we developed an expression vector allowing exposure of short peptides on the surface of bacteriophage M13. It was used to obtain a recombinant phage carrying an antigenic determinant of HIV1 p17 Gag protein. Immunoglobulin elicited by immunizing rabbits with the phage reacted with the 17-kDa core protein of the virus and with its polyprotein precursor, p55, on Western blots of HIV1 viral proteins. The results of present experiments may be useful in vaccine development.

Enhanced binding and killing of target tumor cells by drug-loaded liposomes modified with tumor-specific phage fusion coat protein

AIM To explore cancer cell-specific phage fusion pVIII coat protein, identified using phage display, for targeted delivery of drug-loaded liposomes to MCF-7 breast cancer cells. MATERIAL & METHODS An 8-mer landscape library f8/8 and a biopanning protocol against MCF-7 cells were used to select a landscape phage protein bearing MCF-7-specific peptide. Size and morphology of doxorubicin-loaded liposomes modified with the tumor-specific phage fusion coat protein (phage-Doxil) were determined by dynamic light scattering and freeze-fraction electron microscopy. Topology of the phage protein in liposomes was examined by western blot. Association of phage-Doxil with MCF-7 cells was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence spectrometry. Selective targeting to MCF-7 was shown by FACS using a coculture model with target and nontarget cells. Phage-Doxil-induced tumor cell killing and apoptosis were confirmed by CellTiter-Blue Assay and caspase-3/CPP32 fluorometric assay. RESULTS A chimeric phage fusion coat protein specific towards MCF-7 cells, identified from a phage landscape library, was directly incorporated into the liposomal bilayer of doxorubicin-loaded PEGylated liposomes (Doxil) without additional conjugation with lipophilic moieties. Western blotting confirmed the presence of both targeting peptide and pVIII coat protein in the phage-Doxil, which maintained the liposomal morphology and retained a substantial part of the incorporated drug after phage protein incorporation. The binding activity of the phage fusion pVIII coat protein was retained after incorporation into liposomes, and phage-Doxil strongly and specifically targeted MCF-7 cells, demonstrating significantly increased cytotoxicity towards target cells in vitro. CONCLUSION We present a novel and straightforward method for making tumor-targeted nanomedicines by anchoring specific phage proteins (substitute antibodies) on their surface.

Diversity and censoring of landscape phage libraries

Libraries of random peptides displayed on the surface of filamentous phages are a valuable source for biospecific ligands. However, their successful use can be hindered by a disproportionate representation of different phage clones and fluctuation of their composition that arises during phage reproduction, which have potential to affect efficiency of selection of clones with an optimal binding. Therefore, there is a need to develop phage display libraries with extended and varied repertoires of displayed peptides. In this work, we compared the complexity, evolution and representation of two phage display libraries displaying foreign octamers and nonamers in 4000 copies as the N-terminal part of the major coat protein pVIII of phage fd-tet (landscape libraries). They were obtained by replacement of amino acids 2-4 and 2-5 of pVIII with random octa- and nonamers, respectively. Statistical analysis of the libraries revealed their dramatic censoring and evolution during amplification. Further, a survey of both libraries for clones that bind common selectors revealed the presence of different non-overlapping families of target-specific clones in each library justifying the concept that different landscape libraries cover different areas of a sequence space.

Specific probe selection from landscape phage display library and its application in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of free prostate-specific antigen.

Probes against targets can be selected from the landscape phage library f8/8, displaying random octapeptides on the pVIII coat protein of the phage fd-tet and demonstrating many excellent features including multivalency, stability, and high structural homogeneity. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is usually determined by immunoassay, by which antibodies are frequently used as the specific probes. Herein we found that more advanced probes against free prostate-specific antigen (f-PSA) can be screened from the landscape phage library. Four phage monoclones were selected and identified by the specificity array. One phage clone displaying the fusion peptide ERNSVSPS showed good specificity and affinity to f-PSA and was used as a PSA capture probe in a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) array. An anti-human PSA monoclonal antibody (anti-PSA mAb) was used to recognize the captured antigen, followed by horseradish peroxidase-conjugated antibody (HRP-IgG) and o-phenylenediamine, which were successively added to develop plate color. The ELISA conditions such as effect of blocking agent, coating buffer pH, phage concentration, antigen incubation time, and anti-PSA mAb dilution for phage ELISA were optimized. On the basis of the optimal phage ELISA conditions, the absorbance taken at 492 nm on a microplate reader was linear with f-PSA concentration within 0.825-165 ng/mL with a low limit of detection of 0.16 ng/mL. Thus, the landscape phage is an attractive biomolecular probe in bioanalysis.

Cytoplasmic Delivery of Liposomes into MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Mediated by Cell-Specific Phage Fusion Coat Protein

Earlier, we have shown that doxorubicin-loaded liposomes (Doxil) modified with a chimeric phage fusion coat protein specific toward MCF-7 breast cancer cells identified from a phage landscape library demonstrated a significantly enhanced association with target cells and an increased cytotoxicity. Based on some structural similarities between the N-terminus of the phage potein and known fusogenic peptides, we hypothesized that, in addition to the specific targeting, the phage protein may possess endosome-escaping potential and an increased cytotoxicity of drug-loaded phage protein-targeted liposomes may be explained by an advantageous combination of both, cell targeting and endosomal escape of drug-loaded nanocarrier. The use of the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique allowed us to clearly demonstrate the pH-dependent membrane fusion activity of the phage protein. Endosomal escape and cytosolic delivery of phage-liposomes was visualized with fluorescence microscopy. Endosome acidification inhibition by bafilomycin A 1 resulted in decreased cytotoxicity of the phage-Doxil, while the endosome disruption by chloroquine had a negligible effect on efficacy of phage-Doxil, confirming its endosomal escape. Our results demonstrated an endosome-escaping property of the phage protein and provided an insight on mechanism of the enhanced cytotoxicity of phage-Doxil.