Controlled manipulation of bacteriophages using single-virus force spectroscopy.

A method is described for the site-directed manipulation of single filamentous bacteriophages, by using phage display technology and atomic force microscopy. f1 filamentous bacteriophages were genetically engineered to display His-tags on their pIX tail. Following adsorption on nitrilotriacetate-terminated surfaces, force spectroscopy with tips bearing monoclonal anti-pIII antibodies was used to pull on individual phages via their pIII head. Analysis of the force-extension profiles revealed that upon pulling, the phages are progressively straightened into an extended orientation until rupture of the anti-pIII/pIII complex. The single-virus manipulation technique presented here provides new opportunities for understanding the forces driving cell-virus and material-virus interactions, and for characterizing the binding properties of polypeptide sequences or proteins selected by the phage display technology.