title: 'In vitro evolution' of ligands for HCV-specific serum antibodies.
abstract: We developed a strategy to improve the properties of ligands selected from phage-displayed random peptide libraries. A site-directed mutagenesis protocol that introduces mutations and extends the size of a target sequence has been set up to generate diversity in a single or in a population of clones. The pool of mutants thus created is screened to identify variants with the desired properties. We refer to this strategy as in vitro evolution' of ligands. Here we report the application of this in vitro evolution protocol to the identification of improved ligands for HCV-specific serum antibodies. A single clone or population of clones were processed to generate a secondary library. Screening of these libraries with sera from HCV-infected patients identified peptides with an enhanced and broadened ability to detect HCV-specific serum antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Kenton Labs, Centro Ricerche Farmacologia, IRCCSS Lucia, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Minenkova
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bellintani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Tomassi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Urbanelli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Felici
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Monaci
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019020:Directed Molecular Evolution; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D019151:Peptide Library
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D008024:Ligands; D019151:Peptide Library