Objective: To identify and characterize tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-binding peptides from c7c phage display peptide library, in an attempt to find short peptides that can be used as antagonist of TNF-alpha.
Methods: The TNF-alpha-binding peptides were screened from c7c phage display peptide library by using rhTNF-alpha as target protein and identified by sandwich ELISA.
Results: After 3 rounds of screening, 11 of 23 phage clones were identified as positive clones which can bind to rhTNF-alpha. The amino acid sequence in two of these 11 clones is c-ALWHWWH-c, and that in the others is c-(T/S)WLHWWA-c.
Conclusion: These phage display peptides are TNFalpha-binding peptides.