An improved phage display procedure for identification of lipopolysaccharide-binding peptides.

We successfully implemented several modifications to the regular phage display procedure and significantly improved the lipopolysaccharides-binding properties of the peptides selected. Specifically, the number of biopannings was increased and peptides with consensus sequences were obtained. A dual selection procedure (referred to as subtractive panning) was used to simultaneously select for the desired target and deselect for an undesired target, thereby increasing the binding specificity. In addition, binding and washing conditions in the subtractive panning were also modified to favor the selection of peptides with higher binding strength. As a result, two peptides, ASFPPAF and SSHTISF, were identified with much improved binding properties compared to those selected with regular panning. The binding specificities of these two peptides, as measured by the ratio of phages bound to the desired and undesired targets, were severalfold higher than previously reported. These modifications could easily be implemented with many other target molecules, indicating the general applicability of the procedure.