Selection and initial characterization of novel peptide ligands that bind specifically to human blood outgrowth endothelial cells.

Using phage display technology, we have isolated 12-mer peptide ligands that bind to human blood outgrowth endothelial cells (HBOEC). To avoid non-specific binding we apply negative-positive selection approach by pre-incubating the library with non-HBOEC. The selected phage clones bind to their target cell population with high recovery. Moreover, the isolated clones display outstanding cell specificity as no significant binding is observed on a panel of other cell types. We anticipate the findings from this work to be exploited in the development of future cell-based therapeutic revascularization approaches to ischemic disease and endothelial injury or in combination with biomedical devices.