Identification of peptide motif that binds to the surface of zirconia

A zirconia-binding peptide motif was identified using a peptide phage display system. Yttria stabilized zirconia beads and discs were used as the target. Quartz crystal microbalance was used to monitor the binding of phages to zirconia. Starting from a library of phages displaying random sequences of 12-mer peptides, we repeated cycles of biopanning against zirconia beads. After four cycles of biopanning, we isolated a phage clone Φ#17. DNA sequencing of the corresponding portion of Φ#17 unexpectedly revealed that it displayed a 58-mer peptide (amino acid sequence: WMPSDVDINDPQGGGSRPNLHQPKPAAEAASKKKSENRKVPFYSHSWY-SSMSEDKRGW). We found that Φ#17 had a 300-fold, significantly higher binding affinity for zirconia discs than phages displaying no peptide. In quartz crystal microbalance assay, a rapid increase in energy dissipation was observed from Φ#17 but not from the control phages, indicating that Φ#17 binds to the surface of zirconia via its displayed peptide. We successfully identified a peptide motif that binds zirconia.