Screening and identification of a specific peptide binding to cervical cancer cells from a phage-displayed peptide library

Objectives To screen and identify the probe markers specifically binding to human cervical cancer, a phage-displayed 12-mer peptide library was used for biopanning of SiHa cells. Results After four rounds of whole-cell subtraction biopanning, the phage recovery was 21-fold higher (from 3.9 × 10 −5 to 8.3 × 10 −4 ) than that of the first round, and specific phage clones were significantly enriched. 57 randomly selected phage clones were tested by ELISA, and 36 phage clones were identified as positive clones. After sequencing of positive clones, six different peptide sequences were obtained and CSP3 showed best affinity and specificity to SiHa cells via immunofluorescence assay. Conclusions Peptide, CSP3, bound to SiHa cells specifically and sensitively. It may be a potential candidate for molecular imaging detection and targeting therapy of cervical cancer.