title: Phage display as a powerful tool to engineer protease inhibitors.
abstract: Since its introduction by Georges Smith some 25 years ago, phage display has proved to be a powerful molecular technique for selecting proteins with desired biological properties from huge libraries. Early on, various protease inhibitor scaffolds were displayed at the surface of filamentous phages to select new inhibitors with shifted specificities and enhanced affinities towards one or more target protease(s). The past two decades have seen a number of natural protease inhibitors subjected to phage display, mostly to shift and increase their inhibitory specificity, but also to explore the molecular mechanisms by which they interact with their cognate enzymes with low or very high selectivity. This review focuses on the major uses of phage display in the field of protein protease inhibitors. The exquisite molecular mechanisms by which natural protease inhibitors prevent unwanted or excessive proteolysis in cells and tissues are also examined along with some of the general principles underlying the way phage display is applied to these molecules.
authors.affiliation: Inserm U618 Protéases et Vectorisation Pulmonaires, IFR 135 Imagerie Fonctionnelle, University of Tours, 37000 Tours, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zani
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moreau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D017912:Inovirus / Q000235:genetics; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D019151:Peptide Library; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019151:Peptide Library; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D011506:Proteins; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases