Enzyme inhibitory peptides with a loop structure stabilized using an antiparallel β-sheet scaffold (β-loop peptide) were obtained from a designed peptide phage library. Human dihydrofolate reductase (hDHFR) was used as the target enzyme. The obtained β-loop peptides were competitive inhibitors of hDHFR with micromolar inhibition constants and dissociation constants.

To search for an alternative to using protein conjugated aflatoxin as a coating antigen in aflatoxin detection by an ELISA method, a random-8-peptide library was constructed and used as a source of peptides that mimic aflatoxins (termed as mimotopes). Five mimotope peptides were obtained by panning-elution from the library and were successfully used in an indirect competitive ELISA for analyzin...

Expression of specific short peptides can render cells resistant to macrolide antibiotics. Peptides conferring resistance to structurally different macrolides including oleandomycin, azithromycin, azaerythromycin, josamycin and a ketolide cethromycin were selected from a random pentapeptide expression library. Analysis of the entire collection of the resistance peptides allowed their classifica...

β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI) is a major autoantigen of autoimmune thrombophilia, known as the antiphospholipid syndrome. The exact mechanism underlying the β2GPI's involvement in the disease is not fully elucidated, as it is not its physiological role. We used random phage peptide library to identify sequences binding to β2GPI. Obtained K(L/V)WX(I/L/V)P motif, primarily designated as target unrela...

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents a significant obstacle to delivery of targeted therapies to brain tumors. In this issue of the JCI, Staquicini and colleagues apply an in vivo phage-displayed library of random peptides to identify differentially expressed peptides that can be used to transport targeted agents across the intact BBB. The authors uncover a non-canonical, peptide-mediated iro...

Solid phase peptide synthesis method, which was introduced by Merrifield in 1963, has spawned the concept of combinatorial chemistry. In this review, we summarize the present technologies of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) that are related to combinatorial chemistry. The conventional methods of peptide library synthesis on polymer support are parallel synthesis, split and mix synthesis and...

The use of peptide libraries for the identification and characterization of T cell antigen peptide epitopes and mimotopes has been hampered by the need to form complexes between the peptides and an appropriate MHC molecule in order to construct a complete T cell ligand. We have developed a baculovirus-based peptide library method in which the sequence encoding the peptide is embedded within the...

The recognition by a viral envelope of its cognate host-cell receptor is the initial critical step in defining the viral host-range and tissue specificity. This study combines a single-round of selection of a random envelope library with a parallel cDNA screen for receptor function to identify a distinct retroviral envelope/receptor pair. The 11-aa targeting domain of the modified feline leukem...