Speed and precision are essential in molecular biology and drug discovery. The ability to rapidly identify individual molecules, peptides, antibodies, or ligands that bind with high affinity and specificity to a purified protein target can advance basic research. In this case, Creative Biolabs offers a robust, controlled, and efficient in vitro protein-based phage display screening platform to specifically isolate individual binders from large libraries, turning your research goals into reality. This customized service is tailored to answer your questions about molecular interactions directly by leveraging the full power of phage display technology on a single purified target.
At the core of our Phage Display Screening Platforms is the revolutionary phage display technology. This technique provides a direct and powerful physical link between a protein's function (phenotype) and the gene that encodes it (genotype). We utilize filamentous bacteriophages, most commonly M13 phage display systems, as the engine for this process. The fundamental principle is elegant and effective: a gene encoding a protein or peptide of interest, such as an antibody fragment, is genetically fused to one of the phage's coat protein genes. When the phage replicates, this fusion protein is expressed and "displayed" on the virion's outer surface, making it available for interaction with other molecules. Crucially, the DNA that encodes this displayed protein is safely packaged inside the phage particle.
Fig.1 Filamentous phage: structure and replication cycle.1,3
This direct genotype-phenotype linkage is what makes phage display for antibody discovery and peptide discovery so powerful. It enables us to screen vast collections of variants, known as phage display libraries, which can contain billions of unique peptides or antibodies. From this vast diversity, we can isolate only those phages displaying a protein that binds to a specific target molecule. Because the phage carries the corresponding genetic blueprint, we can then amplify the selected phages and easily identify the sequence of the successful binder. This process can be conducted entirely in vitro, offering complete control over the screening conditions. While phage panning on purified protein targets offers an exceptionally controlled environment for studying direct molecular interactions, discovering binders in a more biologically complex context often requires our specialized In Vitro Cell-Based Phage Display Screening Platform.
The process of isolating specific binders from a library is called in vitro biopanning. It is a multi-round enrichment procedure designed to amplify phages that bind to your target of interest selectively. Our expert team has optimized this biopanning protocol to maximize success and deliver high-quality candidates.
Fig.2 Step-by-step in vitro phage display workflow.2,3
Our service is tailored to the unique nature of your purified protein target, offering several sophisticated screening strategies.
This is the most common approach for in vitro phage display screening. The success of this method relies on the proper immobilization of the target protein while preserving its native conformation and the accessibility of its binding sites.
For some targets, immobilization can mask key epitopes or alter their conformation. Solution-phase biopanning overcomes this challenge by allowing the interaction between the phage library and the target protein to occur freely in solution. In this method, a biotinylated target protein is incubated with the library. The phage-target complexes are then captured from the solution using streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. This approach more closely mimics the natural interactions in a physiological environment and is highly effective for discovering binders with exceptional affinity.
The quality and diversity of the phage display library are critical for the success of any screening project. We offer access to premier, well-validated libraries and provide expert services for phage display library construction to meet your specific research needs. We also offer phage display library screening service to ensure that the full diversity of these powerful libraries is leveraged to find the optimal binder for your target.
We maintain extensive naïve human antibody library collections (scFv and Fab formats) with diversities exceeding 10^10 unique clones. These libraries are a powerful resource for phage display for antibody production, yielding fully human antibodies that often have lower immunogenicity potential, making them ideal starting points for therapeutic development. We also work with immune and synthetic libraries to fit the project's goals.
Our random peptide library collections are essential tools for ligand identification, epitope mapping, and peptide discovery. These libraries display peptides of various lengths and can be designed with constraints to create more stable structures that can mimic complex binding motifs.
Identifying a true, specific binder from a sea of possibilities requires precision. We employ advanced strategies to eliminate false positives and enhance the quality of selected candidates.
To ensure the highest specificity, negative selection phage display is a standard part of our workflow. Before exposing the library to your target, we first incubate it with potential sources of non-specific binding. For protein-based screening, this could include:
By removing phages that bind to these components, we ensure that the candidates selected in the positive panning step are specific to your protein of interest.
The success of in vitro biopanning is highly dependent on the fine-tuning of the biopanning protocol. Our scientists meticulously optimize the phage display washing steps for each unique target, adjusting the buffer composition, duration, and mechanical force to wash away non-specific binders effectively. Similarly, we select the most appropriate from a range of phage elution methods to ensure the efficient recovery of the tightest binders without damaging them.
Traditional methods often rely on sequencing a few dozen individual clones, which provides only a small snapshot of the enriched population. We leverage the power of NGS phage display, also known as phage display deep sequencing, to analyze the results. This approach provides comprehensive, quantitative data on the entire selected population by sequencing millions of clones simultaneously. Phage display deep sequencing allows us to:
Our in vitro protein-based screening service supports a wide range of research and development applications:
While in vivo phage display—where libraries are injected directly into living animals to identify tissue-homing binders—is a powerful tool for specific applications, the majority of phage display for drug discovery and diagnostics projects benefit from a controlled, laboratory-based approach. The advantages of in vitro phage display are significant:
Our in vitro phage display technology platform offers the ideal balance of speed, control, and power for most discovery projects. By choosing our in vitro protein-based phage display screening platform, you partner with a team of dedicated experts committed to your success. We combine state-of-the-art libraries, refined protocols, and powerful NGS analytics to deliver high-quality, actionable results. to discuss your project and discover how our expertise in phage display can accelerate your path to discovery.
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Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).
Creative Biolabs is a globally recognized phage company. Creative Biolabs is committed to providing researchers with the most reliable service and the most competitive price.
