Using phage as a platform to select cancer cell-targeting peptides.

One challenge in the development of cancer therapies is the availability of cancer-specific ligands. Recently, phage-displayed peptide libraries have been used for the selection of peptide-based cell-targeting ligands, especially cancer cell ligands. Here we describe the methods to identify SKBR-3 breast cancer cell-specific peptides from a phage-displayed random peptide library. It is possible to select both cell-surface-binding and cell-internalizing peptides using this method. This method can also be applied to the selection of targeting peptides for other adherent cancer cells. The identified short peptides can be potentially incorporated into a variety of early diagnostic and targeted therapeutic systems against breast cancer.