Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, which has made the quest for efficient diagnostic biomarkers and prognostic markers of these ailments of utmost importance. CVDs such as coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction can take several years to develop, with the first clinical manifestations showing up at advanced stages. While the well-known cardiac biomarkers such as troponin and C-reactive protein can be very helpful in diagnosing acute events such as a heart attack, they are of limited use in early detection and risk prediction. This underscores the pressing need for sensitive and specific new generation of diagnostic biomarkers and prognostic markers. The advent of the concept of liquid biopsy, where blood samples are drawn for analysis of components such as plasma or serum, has helped reinvigorate this hunt for novel circulating biomarkers. Blood reaches every part of the body, with its supply of proteins, peptides and many other circulating molecules having a time-zero snapshot of the real-time physiology and molecular health status of all the organs, including the heart and the vascular system. We can harness this molecular information using state-of-the-art plasma proteomics to identify new circulating biomarkers.
At Creative Biolabs, we use our comprehensive phage display for biomarker discovery platform to meet this very need. We leverage this high-throughput technology to comprehensively mine the proteome of blood and discover new protein biomarkers of CVDs. Our end-to-end service is a one-stop shop that enables researchers to take full advantage of this novel platform and speed up the biomarker discovery process.
Here are some of the key protein biomarkers discovered using phage display in cardiovascular diseases:
| Biomarker | Associated Disease | Potential Application |
|---|---|---|
| Troponin | Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure | Diagnostic biomarker for heart attacks |
| C-Reactive Protein (CRP) | Atherosclerosis, CAD | Inflammatory marker for heart disease |
| Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) | Atherosclerosis, CAD | Lipoprotein marker for cardiovascular risk |
| BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) | Heart Failure | Prognostic marker for heart failure |
| Interleukin-6 (IL-6) | Atherosclerosis, CAD | Inflammatory marker for cardiovascular diseases |
Clinicians have depended on a narrow panel of cardiac biomarkers for the management of CVDs for many years. Current cardiac biomarkers fall short in several key areas, leaving a significant unmet need and demand for the discovery of new cardiac biomarkers. The gold-standard cardiac biomarker, cardiac troponin, is a lagging indicator and only identifies damage after it has occurred. This makes it inadequate as a means of identifying risk and the need for earlier intervention. Other common cardiac biomarkers are nonspecific, measuring conditions that are not exclusively linked to cardiac stress, and their values can be skewed by other factors. CRP, for example, is a nonspecific marker of inflammation, and BNP levels may be affected by noncardiac factors. Ideal biomarkers should be both specific and sensitive to early prediction and monitoring of CVDs, and advanced discovery platforms like phage display can be leveraged to meet this need.
Phage display is a powerful laboratory technique that utilizes a phage library—a vast and genetically diverse collection of bacteriophages engineered to express a wide variety of proteins or peptides on their surfaces. The immense diversity of these libraries makes them an invaluable tool for high-throughput screening. In a process known as phage panning, the library is exposed to a specific target molecule, such as a protein biomarker associated with cardiovascular disease. Phages that display a peptide capable of binding the target are selectively isolated and amplified. This method allows researchers to efficiently identify specific binding partners for disease-associated markers, such as troponin and C-reactive protein, thereby accelerating the discovery of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.
Creative Biolabs is aware that every biomarker discovery project has its own distinct aims and needs. Therefore, we have assembled a suite of phage display services that are as modular as your program needs to be. If you need an all-inclusive, turnkey option that includes every stage of the biomarker discovery process, we have a program for that. However, if you need help only with a particular step of your pipeline, our platform can be tailored to work with your existing program.
The first option is our standard offering, a full-service, end-to-end biomarker discovery program, which is a turnkey platform that manages every step of the biomarker discovery process from beginning to end. For a research team that is ready to go from a clinical hypothesis to validated biomarker candidates with the least amount of friction and wasted effort, this program is for you. The services are as follows:
Of course, if you have a special interest in a particular family of proteins, post-translational modification, or epitope, our off-the-shelf libraries can be complemented by a custom-built one. Our in-house team of experts in bacteriophage genomics and library construction can create a high-diversity peptide or antibody library that matches your specifications down to the last nucleotide in order to give your discovery campaign the best shot at success.
If you already have a validated and well-defined patient cohort of interest, we can also offer a stand-alone phage panning service. You can simply supply the precious biomarker-containing plasma or serum samples, and our internal team of experts and high-diversity libraries will take care of the screening. We will return a phage binder-enriched pool and a sequencing dataset that can be further curated by your own team.
On the other hand, if you have a binder but you do not have its molecular target, we can help with that as well. For a fee, our target identification service will use the binder you provided as a probe to purify a native antigen from a complex sample such as plasma in order to conclusively pinpoint its identity.
Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of coronary artery disease and involves the accumulation of fatty substances, cholesterol, and other materials inside the arterial walls, leading to narrowed or blocked arteries. Early diagnosis of atherosclerosis and CAD is crucial for preventing heart attacks and strokes. Using phage display, researchers can identify circulating biomarkers that are elevated in patients with atherosclerosis or CAD. For example, specific peptides or antibodies identified through phage screening may bind to lipoproteins, inflammatory cytokines, or adhesion molecules present in the plasma or serum of these patients. These proteins can then be further validated as diagnostic biomarkers for early-stage disease detection.
During a myocardial infarction, the heart muscle suffers damage due to a lack of oxygen-rich blood. Troponin, a protein found in heart muscle cells, is one of the most well-known cardiac biomarkers used in the diagnosis of heart attacks. Phage display can be used to develop highly specific phage protein reagents that bind to troponin and other circulating biomarkers associated with myocardial infarction. These reagents can then be used in diagnostic assays to detect troponin in serum samples, enabling quicker and more accurate diagnosis of heart attacks.
Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood effectively, leading to a buildup of fluid in the body. Identifying prognostic markers early on is essential for managing the disease and improving patient outcomes. Through liquid biopsy techniques, phage panning can be used to identify protein biomarkers in plasma or serum that are indicative of heart failure progression. These biomarkers can provide insights into the severity of the condition, the risk of hospitalization, and potential therapeutic interventions.
CRP is a well-established inflammatory biomarker that is often elevated in response to tissue injury or infection, including in cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis and CAD. Using phage libraries, specific peptides can be identified that bind to CRP and other inflammatory markers, enabling better detection of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases.
Creative Biolabs provides custom phage display services, where our team can help you design and construct phage libraries tailored to your specific research needs. If you're looking for peptide libraries or antibody libraries, we offer end-to-end support, from library construction to phage panning and target identification.
Our phage display-based antibody development platform offers an advanced, high-throughput solution for generating highly specific antibodies tailored to your cardiovascular research needs. Using phage display technology, we can rapidly identify and isolate antibodies that bind to specific protein biomarkers associated with cardiovascular diseases like atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and heart failure. This platform allows for the development of monoclonal antibodies that can be used in diagnostic tests, therapeutic applications, or functional studies.
There is a critical unmet need in the cardiovascular disease space. We need to discover better biomarkers that can be used for early disease detection. The phage display platform is the fastest and most efficient route to the discovery of new protein biomarkers. Creative Biolabs has optimized this platform into a streamlined end-to-end solution to fast-track your research. Are you interested in leading the way to the next generation of cardiac biomarkers? Please today to learn more about your project and what we can do for you.
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.
