Ligands that are capable of binding to tumor cell surface biomarkers specifically used in the early diagnosis of cancer and targeted drug delivery in cancer chemotherapy have been extensively investigated. Phage display technology has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool in this field. In this study, the non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H1299 and the normal lung small airway epithelial cell lines were used for subtractive screening in vitro with a phage display 12-peptide library. After three rounds of panning, there was an obvious enrichment in the phages specifically binding to the NCI-H1299 cells, and the output/input ratio of phages increased approximately 875-fold (from 0.4x104 to 3.5x106). A group of peptides capable of binding specifically to the NCI-H1299 cells was obtained, and the affinity of these peptides to bind to the targeted cells and tissues was studied. Through cell-based ELISA, immunocytochemical staining, immunohistochemical staining and immunofluorescence, an M13 phage was isolated and identified from the above screenings, and a synthetic peptide, ZT-1 (sequence QQMHLMSYAPGP), corresponding to the sequence of the surface protein of the M13 phage, was demonstrated to be capable of binding to the tumor cell surfaces of NCI-H1299 and A549 cells and biopsy specimens, but not to normal lung tissue samples, other cancer cells, or non-tumor adjacent lung tissues. In conclusion, the peptide ZT-1 may be a potential candidate biomarker ligand that can be used for targeted drug delivery in lung cancer therapy.

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