Protein and Antibody Engineering by Phage Display

Phage display is an in vitro selection technique that allows for the rapid isolation of proteins with desired properties including increased affinity, specificity, stability, and new enzymatic activity. The power of phage display relies on the phenotype-to-genotype linkage of the protein of interest displayed on the phage surface with the encoding DNA packaged within the phage particle, which allows for selective enrichment of library pools and high-throughput screening of resulting clones. As an in vitro method, the conditions of the binding selection can be tightly controlled. Due to the high-throughput nature, rapidity, and ease of use, phage display is an excellent technological platform for engineering antibody or proteins with enhanced properties. Here, we describe methods for synthesis, selection, and screening of phage libraries with particular emphasis on designing humanizing antibody libraries and combinatorial scanning mutagenesis libraries. We conclude with a brief section on troubleshooting for all stages of the phage display process.