Identification of peptide ligands facilitating nanoparticle attachment to erythrocytes

Peptide ligands capable of mediating nanoparticle adhesion to human red blood cells (RBCs) were identified from a large bacterial display peptide library. Peptides were displayed on the surface of fluorescent Escherichia coli, enabling quantitative measurement of RBC binding and high-throughput screening using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. One of the isolated clones remained attached to RBCs under high-shear stresses equivalent to those encountered in vivo. Furthermore, nanoparticles functionalized with the identified RBC-binding peptides exhibited nearly 100-fold increased RBC binding relative to nonfunctionalized particles in the presence of physiologically relevant concentrations of human serum albumin, indicating that peptides remained functional in the absence of the protein scaffold used for display. The RBC-binding peptides identified here provide new opportunities for sustained therapeutic delivery applications whereby nanoparticulate drug carriers can be attached to RBCs to achieve long-circulating carrier systems.