Phage Probes for Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment

Phage particles carrying cell-specific peptides have the potential to serve as nanoprobes for profiling of cancer cell surfaces, allowing parallel development of diagnostics with companion therapeutics. Phage probes derived from a landscape phage display library were assayed for binding to human glioma (brain tumor) cell lines, each with a different morphology and originated from a different patient. These phage probes were bound to the cells in distinctive patterns that were individual for each cell line. Subsequently, we designed and tested anti-cancer peptides with two domains: glioma-binding (derived from phage display) and pro-apoptotic. The resulting bifunctional peptides showed preferential cytotoxicity toward glioma cells compared to normal brain astrocytes. A strategy that incorporates the use of phage nanoprobes for cell-surface molecular profiling of individual tumors followed by cytotoxic treatments formulated on the basis of tumor profiles is discussed.