Peptide and protein display on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage

The isolation of ligands that bind biologically relevant molecules is fundamental to the understanding of biological processes and to the search for therapeutics. Filamentous phage can be used to display foreign peptides and proteins in physical association with their DNA coding sequences. Repertoires larger than 10(8) phage clones expressing different peptide sequences can be prepared using molecular genetic techniques. The strategies utilizing this technology promise to provide not only new binding and possibly catalytic activities, but also lead structures for the development of new drugs and vaccines.