A FQHPSFI peptide selectively binds to LPS-activated alveolar macrophages and inhibits LPS-induced MIP-2 production.

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify peptides selectively binding to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated alveolar macrophages (AMs) and to characterize their effects on the production of LPS-induced cytokines.

Methods: A phage display library was sequentially screened by binding phages to unmanipulated AMs and then to LPS-activated AMs. Individual phage clones were identified by cell-based ELISA. Positive phage clones were characterized by DNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Binding specificity of the selected phage to LPS-activated AMs was tested using immunofluorescent staining. The selected candidate peptide was chemically synthesized to determine whether it could modulate LPS-induced cytokine production in AMs.

Results: Twenty-two out of 40 phage clones selected randomly after four rounds of biopanning bound selectively to LPS-activated AMs, and 12 of them displayed novel peptides. A phage clone displaying FQHPSFI peptide bound effectively to LPS-activated AMs, but not to other cells tested. Furthermore, the synthetic FQHPSFI peptide, but not seven point mutants tested, competitively inhibited the binding of the phage clone to LPS-activated AMs. Importantly, the FQHPSFI peptide significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated microphage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2) production in vitro.

Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that phage display technology is a powerful tool for the identification of bioactive peptides. The identified FQHPSFI peptide may be used for the modulation of LPS-stimulated MIP-2 production in AMs.