Refactored M13 bacteriophage as a platform for tumor cell imaging and drug delivery.

ABSTRACT: M13 bacteriophage is a well-characterized platform for peptide display. The utility of the M13 display platform is derived from the ability to encode phage protein fusions with display peptides at the genomic level. However, the genome of the phage is complicated by overlaps of key genetic elements. These overlaps directly couple the coding sequence of one gene to the coding or regulatory sequence of another, making it difficult to alter one gene without disrupting the other. Specifically, overlap of the end of gene VII and the beginning of gene IX has prevented the functional genomic modification of the N-terminus of p9. By redesigning the M13 genome to physically separate these overlapping genetic elements, a process known as "refactoring," we enabled independent manipulation of gene VII

SUBMITTER: Ghosh D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3905571 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature