Intravenous phage display identifies peptide sequences that target the burn-injured intestine

The injured intestine is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality after severe trauma and burn; however, targeting the intestine with therapeutics aimed at decreasing injury has proven difficult. We hypothesized that we could use intravenous phage display technology to identify peptide sequences that target the injured intestinal mucosa in a murine model, and then confirm the cross-reactivity of this peptide sequence with ex vivo human gut. Four hours following 30% TBSA burn we performed an in vivo, intravenous systemic administration of phage library containing 10¹² phage in balb/c mice to biopan for gut-targeting peptides. In vivo assessment of the candidate peptide sequences identified after 4 rounds of internalization was performed by injecting 1 × 10¹² copies of each selected phage clone into sham or burned animals. Internalization into the gut was assessed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We then incubated this gut-targeting peptide sequence with human intestine and visualized fluorescence using confocal microscopy. We identified 3 gut-targeting peptide sequences which caused collapse of the phage library (4–1: SGHQLLLNKMP, 4–5: ILANDLTAPGPR, 4–11: SFKPSGLPAQSL). Sequence 4–5 was internalized into the intestinal mucosa of burned animals 9.3-fold higher than sham animals injected with the same sequence (2.9 × 10⁵vs. 3.1 × 10⁴ particles per mg tissue). Sequences 4–1 and 4–11 were both internalized into the gut, but did not demonstrate specificity for the injured mucosa. Phage sequence 4–11 demonstrated cross-reactivity with human intestine. In the future, this gut-targeting peptide sequence could serve as a platform for the delivery of biotherapeutics.