Mammalian cell binding and transfection mediated by surface-modified bacteriophage lambda.

Bacteriophage lambda virions whose tail tube major subunit (V) proteins are modified with a cyclizable Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide are able to promote the binding of certain mammalian cells to a solid surface. This effect was shown to be specific by peptide competition experiments, and control phage lacking the RGD peptide showed no significant cellular interaction. RGD-modified but not control phage bearing a reporter gene could transfect COS cells at a significant frequency. Phage-mediated transfection therefore benefits when the efficiency of only one step in the multi-stage uptake process is improved.