Selection of High Affinity Peptides for Prediction of Colorectal Adenoma-to-Carcinoma Progression

Abstract

Human leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) and tumor necrosis factor (TTR) have shown a highly valued biomarker for predicting tumor progression in colorectal cancer. The level of both biomarkers in plasma was correlated with the progression to severe colon cancer. In this paper, we describe for the first time the use of phage display for the identification of novel peptide motifs that specifically recognize colon cancer biomarkers for the prediction of colorectal adenoma-to-carcinoma progression. The peptides specific for LRG1 that is up-regulated proteins in colorectal carcinomas had a sequence of QHIMHLPHINTL, while the peptides specific for TTR that is down-regulated proteins in colorectal adenomas had a sequence of VHWDFRQWWQPS. In spiked serum, both peptides were not much affected upon binding; however, they still exhibited binding to their targets. In addition, both phage-displayed peptides exhibited sub-picomolar binding affinity.