Susanne Aileen Funke
Hochschule fuer Angewandte Wissenschaften, Germany
Title: Phage display selection of InlA-binding ligands for Listeria monocytogenes-potential tools for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes
Biography
Biography: Susanne Aileen Funke
Abstract
The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the agent of listeriosis, a hazardous foodborne infection, a comparably rare disease, but the fatality rate is up to 30% despite antibiotic treatment. Listeria monocytogenes enters mammalian cells by inducing its own phagocytosis. The listerial supermolecule internalin mediates microorganism adhesion and invasion of animal tissue cells within thehuman bowel through specific interaction with its host cell receptor E-cadherin.Here, we describe the selection of InlA specific 12meric peptides via phage display using a large peptide library with more than one billion different peptides. We demonstrate that the selected peptides bind to recombinant InlA protein as well as to Listeria monocytogenes cells. We could demonstrate in vitro that the interaction between InlA and E-cad could be inhibited by some of the peptides. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the specific selection of InlA binding peptides. They might be a starting point for the development of novel diagnostic tools or therapeutic approaches.