A novel β-loop scaffold of phage-displayed peptides for highly specific affinities

Abstract

Loop peptides stabilized by two β-strands were used as a scaffold for a phage displayed peptide library. Affinity-based screening for insulin provided peptides, which showed affinity constants of 10⁵ M⁻¹ order for insulin over 100 times greater than their affinity for the structurally similar insulin-like growth factor 1. The results suggested that the scaffold offers a powerful tool for generating and screening peptides as ligands for drugs and biologics.